The Running Sky
by openlyred
Summary: AU. Sora and Roxas are starting a new year at Destiny Island High. How will they deal with their Dad, a pyromaniac and an over-protective friend? AkuRoku SoRi
1. I

**A/N: **Right, so this is my first attempt at a Kingdom Hearts fic. I hope you enjoy it. Review if you read it… I guess that's all I need to say right now. Enjoy!

(**&-…. -& **signals a POV. **&-qp -& **is a break in the narration)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own KH. Unfortunately.

**&-qp -& **

The Running Sky

By Openly Red

Chapter One: A New Start

**&-** Roxas **-&**

We always knew that our Dad was different from everyone else's parents. When we first started school, he stood out as a lone figure against a backdrop of women with strands of pearls around their necks and coral pink lipstick on their mouths. He was tall, and skinny, with a shock of wild blond hair and two backpacks thrown over one shoulder, his hands shoved down the pockets of jeans, chin tucked into his scarf, whenever he picked us up. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to anyone; they just didn't want to talk to him. And he could live with that.

We could live with that too. We adored him, my twin and I. We always ran to his embrace, and he would greet us with a smile, all of us with bright blue eyes that shone with adoration. I look most like our father, with my own blond hair and blue eyes, and my twin has gravity-defying brown hair, which my father insists he inherited from our mother… We've never met her. We don't know her. We don't need to.

Dad has always done his best for us. Sure, we don't live in a great part of town, but we're not living in the worst part either. Our apartment is small, pokey, and Dad's always saying it's too small for three growing boys (he still includes himself, even though he's 31), but it's our home. We decorated it when we were younger, with paper dragons and butterflies, which our Dad made with painstaking care and hung on the walls of our bedroom, and down the hallway into the living room. He painted the bathroom blue and drew orange fish swimming across the walls, just to fulfil a request from my twin. He put a lot of effort into our home.

So, understandably, whenever our father is upset, it rattles us. Just like this evening, where he was fretting about how to get us to school tomorrow, even though he recently got promoted and his shift started earlier.

"I could always arrive later…" he mumbled to himself, stirring whatever was in the pot on the stove. My twin and I glanced at each other, and he spoke up first.

"Dad, it's not a big deal… Roxas and I can walk by ourselves…" Sora, my twin, suggested, closing his mouth the minute Dad threw a look over his shoulder at him. I nodded, agreeing with Sora. We knew where the High School was, we were Juniors, for God's Sake! Unfortunately, Dad didn't see it that way.

"I've dropped you boys off at the first day of school since you started- I am not breaking tradition now!" he grumbled and we nodded in sync. Dad turned back to the pot on the stove, giving whatever was in there one more stir, and then motioning for Sora to get three bowls. Sora stood from the kitchen table, and opened a cabinet, taking out three bowls, placing them next to Dad, before sitting down again. The three bowls were rimmed with three different colours; Blue, Red and Green. Blue for Dad. Red for me. Green for Sora. Dad put something that looked like ravioli into them, and then passed us the bowls. We sat down, and ate. We don't tend to run on routines in this household; it's normally 'Get up before you'll be seriously late for school. Eat when you want. Get back from school before it's dark and Dad goes head-hunting. Do homework. Eat. Sleep when Dad says.' Yes, Sora and I still sleep when our Dad tells us too, we've always done that. He said that, at one point when we were babies, he could get us to sleep on command.

Somehow, I doubt that.

Take this into account; Sora is a ball of energy. He would bounce off the walls if gravity didn't restrain him; his hair was the only part of him which had succeeded in rebelling against this innate force, and stood proudly from his head at all angles. Mine just looked like I had fallen asleep on my desk, face-first, and my bangs had refused to flatten out. Dad's hair was like Sora's; insane. We all blame our genetics for something, and for us Strifes, it was our hair.

"We could ask Riku to take us…" Sora suggested hopefully, spearing a piece of ravioli on his fork. Dad shot him another look, and then sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I really want to take you guys to school, you know…" He mumbled, and I looked up at him through my hair.

"Why don't you ask Cid to take us?" I suggested and Dad looked like he was about to shoot me down again, before closing his mouth. He thought for a second, frowning. Well, frowning more than he usually does.

"I guess I could give him a call…" he mumbled, putting down his fork and leaning back in his chair. He chewed on his lip, and then leaned back further, reaching for the phone that rested on the counter behind him. He managed to snag it (whenever Sora and I try, we always fall off the chair), and quickly punched in our Cid's number.

"Hey, Cid, it's Cloud. Yeah, listen, I need a favour…" and the conversation continued like that. Cid Highwind is one of our Dad's oldest and closest friends. He taught Sora and I how to swear when we were six (Dad was not happy), and Sora's best friend Riku works at his garage near the center of town. He occasionally does favours for Dad, in return for Sora or I working our fingers to the bone at his garage. Eh, whatever. If it cheers Dad up.

"Great, thanks." Dad hung up, and threw the handset somewhere onto the counter. Sora watched it as it helplessly hit the floor, and he rolled his eyes. Dad wasn't much of a clean-freak, and neither was I, but Sora hated things being on the floor. He said it made him nervous. "Right," Dad said, interrupting Sora's glaring match with the handset. "Cid's taking you to school tomorrow. He'll be here at seven, sharp. Either of you are late, and I'll ban you from going out for the rest of your lives." He said, pointing a finger at us, before standing up, putting the bowl in the sink, and leaving the room. Sora and I stared after him.

"Well." I said.

Sora laughed.

**&-qp -& **

The Strife twins were relatively well known at Destiny Island High. Sora for his incorrigible good humour and unfailing loyalty, Roxas for his book-smarts and fierce gaze. Both of them for their large group of mutual friends, spanning from local teenage heartthrob and captain of the school's blitzball team, Riku Bai-Lindberg, to the National Struggle champion, Hayner Flores. Their social group was admittedly the biggest one, and the one that combined kids of many different sects into one group. They weren't particularly popular, but they were content with their rung on the social ladder, and left it at that.

It was seven-thirty the next morning when Sora and Roxas shakily climbed out of Cid's car. He had been driving way over the speed limit, to the point where the twins feared for their lives, and then had slammed the breaks on outside of school.

"HAVE A NICE DAY!" Cid shouted after them, before laughing and speeding off. Sora gave Roxas a look that was akin to a kicked puppy. Roxas gave him the same look back. They both turned to the front steps and encountered a tall, silver-haired boy, whose cheerful smile dropped into a shocked look, as he ran over.

"Sora, what happened?" he asked, grabbing the shorter boy's shoulders. Roxas mentally rolled his eyes.

"It was a-awful, Riku!" Sora wailed theatrically, throwing his arms around Riku's neck. Riku's face was a picture of absolute panic, and Roxas had to stifle a laugh, as Riku patted up and down Sora's back as if making sure he was still intact. Sora gave a loud sob, and then wailed "Cid drove us to school!"

In a second, Riku had shoved him away, and Sora had doubled over laughing. Roxas too cracked up, a hand over his mouth to stifle the sound. Riku gave Sora a sharp glare, and then turned on his heel and went back to the steps, where the rest of their group was.

"Hey Sora, Hi Roxas!" a small girl with red hair and a pink dress cried enthusiastically, waving a hand in the air. Sora straightened up and gave her a smile, running to her quickly and throwing her arms around her. Roxas followed his twin to the front of the school at a slower pace, grinning at his friend who stood slightly off to the side, giving Hayner, a tall boy with spiky dirty blond hair, a high-five.

"What are the new Freshmen like?" Roxas asked Hayner, turning on the spot and leaning against the side of the stairs. Hayner shrugged, glancing over at the affiliated university students, who shared part of Destiny Highs campus."I meant the High Schoolers, not the University students…"

"Well, the new Students aren't too bad. Some of the girls are fi-ine!" Hayner said gleefully. Roxas rolled his eyes, and bit the inside of his cheek as Olette gave Hayner a pained look. It was well-known by everyone _except_ Hayner that Olette wanted to date him, but no amount of hints seemed to penetrate Hayner's thick skull.

A bell rang somewhere in the midst of the school and the group stood and headed into the all ready jam-packed halls of Destiny Islands High. Roxas and Sora bid good-bye to each other as Roxas, Hayner, Olette and Pence headed towards their homeroom.

It turned out to be the photography studio, so students were scattered in clumps around the room, since there were no seats to speak off. Several were leaning against the desks pushed against the walls, and one had hijacked the computer. Hayner high-fived this one and then sat in the corner with Roxas, Olette and Pence.

"Did anyone say who the new Homeroom Prefect is?" Roxas asked as he rifled through his backpack in search of his cell; he had forgotten to put it on silent earlier. Pence shrugged.

"Nah, man." He said, raising a hand behind his head to scratch the back of his neck. Olette wrinkled her nose at him, and then sighed.

"I heard it was a Law student." She said and the boys all scoffed.

"Big deal. There's always Law, History or Science students being prefect. God, I wish they would give us, like, a militant lesbian or something." Hayner said whimsically and Roxas shot him a weird look.

"What, so you'd have someone who's equally as macho as you?" Roxas drawled and Hayner punched his shoulder playfully. Pence gave a short laugh and Olette tutted. "Seriously though, it's always a Law student. Remember Tifa?"

"Now, _she _was a militant lesbian!" Hayner said, and they all laughed.

"She was evil…" Roxas agreed, nodding slowly, glancing at the door as it slowly opened. He fell silent as a tall, thin figure with wild red hair walked in, glancing around the room with a bored expression. Roxas glanced at him, and then did a double-take, his eyes trained on this new figure as though he needed to study him. Hayner elbowed Roxas in the side. "Hey!"

"Dude, you were staring. It was weird…" Hayner murmured and Roxas shrugged. Olette frowned and then gasped, her hands rising to her mouth.

"Oh, I know him! It's Kairi's brother!" she said and the three boys stared at her. She rolled her eyes. "Axel Elliot… Remember, he was sent to boarding school in Port Royal when we were eight…?" Olette prompted them. Again, they all stared at her blankly. She rolled her eyes. "Remember? Kairi has two brothers, Reno and Axel. And Axel went to boarding school with Reno… Oh, never mind!" she snapped, obviously realising she had lost the boys interest a while ago. She hmphed and slid into her seat properly as the homeroom teacher came in.

"Right, class. I'm Saix, your homeroom teacher. Roll call!" he snapped. The class stared blankly at him, not used to the barking out of orders. Saix flipped open the register and began rolling off names. When he was done, he flipped the register shut and turned back to the class. "This is Axel Elliot, he's the Homeroom Prefect. Axel, tell us about yourself." Saix barked the orders at the redhead student, who wrinkled his nose slightly, before turning to the class.

"Right. I'm Axel Elliot. I have two siblings, a brother Reno and a sister Kairi, who's in your year. I'm an Art Student, Animation and Illustration with a minor in Music. Eh… I'm half-Dutch, fire-crazy and too lazy for anything else. That's it." He finished with a shrug and the class went back to talking, ignoring him. He and Saix began to talk quietly together, altogether unaware that Roxas was watching Axel with interest the entire time.

**&-qp -& **

When Sora and Roxas arrived home, after having a Near Death Experience in the back of Cid's car, they went straight to doing their homework, waiting for their father to come home. Roxas had had a day of elective science classes, so had a mound of textbooks to flick through, while Sora had his new Photography project to begin working on. He was currently wondering around the apartment taking pictures of random objects while Roxas looked on in bemusement.

"Kairi's brother is my homeroom Prefect, by the way." Roxas said randomly once Sora had sat down with his camera at the computer. Sora looked over his shoulder, an eyebrow raised. Roxas shrugged. "Axel. He's… weird."

"Yeah, Kairi said it's odd having him home. He's normally in Boarding School about now." Sora explained.

"So why's he gone to Destiny U? I mean, Port Royal's got a good school – he could've gone anywhere. Why here?" Roxas asked, flicking to the back of his BioChemistry textbook. Sora turned back to the computer, shrugging.

"Don't ask me." And that was that.

Two hours later, the front door opened and their father came in, carrying a bag of groceries, with his old backpack thrown over his shoulder. It was the same one he used to carry when he would pick the boys up from school when they were four.

"Hey you two," he said, placing the bag on the counter and wandering over to Roxas first, bending down to kiss the top of Roxas' head, doing the same with Sora. Sora laughed at the action, while Roxas remained silent. "Riku's down at the beach, Sora, why aren't you with him?" Cloud asked and Sora shrugged.

"I wanted to start this photography project." He explained simply. Roxas frowned; now that he thought about it, it seemed odd for Sora to be home, instead of at the beach. Maybe he and Riku had fallen out?

"Right... Oh, I phoned your school earlier. Your homeroom Prefect, Roxas, lives nearby. He's agreed to drive you to and from school."

"Kairi's brother?" Sora asked and Cloud nodded, heading over to the kitchen to start on dinner. Roxas turned slightly to glare at his father's back without Cloud noticing. He hated his father's constant need for them to be monitored. They could walk at least to school and back by themselves.

"Dad, why don't we just go by ourselves?" Roxas said and he heard the 'uh-uh' noise from Cloud. He rolled his eyes. "It's not a big deal. It's just a 20 minute walk away! What's the problem?"

"We are _not _having this conversation now, Roxas. You know why."

"Dad, that was years ago, it's dif-,"

"Roxas!" Cloud snapped, spinning on his heel, his face flushing a deep red in anger. He faced his youngest son with an expression of grim determination, though his eyes were carefully guarded. "We are **not** talking about this."

"When will we talk about it, then?" Roxas snapped, standing up so suddenly his chair fell back. Sora stood up and walked away from the computer nervously, all too aware of the results of Cloud and Roxas' arguments.

"Dad, can't we talk about it-"

"NO, SORA!" Cloud shouted and Sora jumped back. Roxas leapt to his twin's defence.

"DON'T SHOUT AT SORA!" he roared, and Cloud rounded on his blond son. Sora turned on his heel and ran down the corridor, shutting himself in the bedroom he and Roxas shared. He sat on his bed next to the window and prodded one of the crepe paper dragons that swung from the wall. It swayed gently from the touch and then came to a rest peacefully against the wall. The brown-haired teenager sighed, and rested an elbow on the window sill, looking out into the distance. Though they lived in an apartment building, with only two other flats in the whole thing, you could still see the sea from the windows. In the distance was the play island, where children from the island had traditionally gone to in the afternoons to swim, play volleyball or just goof around. There were tree houses on the island that were over two hundred years old. Hayner's grandparents, who were locals, had said that even they had played in those tree houses until they married.

There was a quiet knock on the door before it was slowly pushed open. Sora glanced over his shoulder to meet his father's sad gaze before he looked back out the window. "Hey, Sora… Can I talk to you?" Cloud asked and Sora nodded slowly. He felt his bed dip down at one side before he was gently coaxed into leaning back against his father. One of Cloud's hands went into his hair, running his fingers through it soothingly.

"I'm sorry I snapped. I just… I don't want to talk about what happened, okay? I just want you and Rox to be safe, more than anything." Cloud murmured quietly. Sora nodded a little sadly. "I love you guys so much, you know that, right? I'd walk through burning buildings for you, and I never, ever want to see you hurt. I'm sorry I come off as over-protective, but I don't know what I'd do if either of you-…" The end of that sentence was left hanging. Cloud sighed, and dropped a kiss on the top of Sora's head. "I love you, my little sky." He mumbled into Sora's hair and Sora smiled.

"I love you too, Dad." He said back quietly and Cloud nodded, gave him a quick squeeze and then let him go.

"It's late. Get some sleep. Roxas'll be in, in a second." He said, standing up and walking to the door. Sora nodded, sliding off the bed to grab his pyjamas from under his pillow and changing into them. Roxas came in soon after, a scowl marring his face. He changed quickly as well, while Sora went to the bathroom. And then they settled down to sleep.

Typically, they ended up facing each other when they were going to sleep; but Sora noticed that today, Roxas' back was turned. He frowned, but buried his face deeper into the covers.


	2. II

**A/N: **A few notes. I've never attended American High School (I'm English), so what I'm trying to do here is blend the American and English systems together. I had to have a friend explain homeroom to me (Oh dear…). Basically, at Sora and Roxas' age (17), you choose to do four subjects solely, which is based on the English A-level systems. Roxas' are Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Further Maths. Sora's… will come up later. Hope that's not too confusing!

Also, my Dutch is very basic and consists of 5 words, so I used a translator for the Dutch in this chapter. If anyone thinks the Dutch can be corrected, let me know and I'll edit it.

(**&-…. -& **signals a POV. **&-qp -& **is a break in the narration)

**Disclaimer: **Me + Fanfic =/= Ownage of KH.

**&-qp -& **

The Running Sky

By Openly Red

Chapter Two:

**&-qp -& **

Roxas jerked awake soon after dawn. He had dreamt again; a slice of silver against a backdrop of black rain. He didn't really understand any of the symbolism of his dreams. Turning on his side, he watched Sora press his face further into the pillow, seemingly trying to suffocate himself in his sleep. Roxas rolled himself off his bed, landing on his hands and knees before pushing himself into a kneeling position. He heard his father moving about in the kitchen and slowly stood, turning on his heel and walking out into the bright light of the hall, blinking rapidly.

"D-dad?" Roxas mumbled, moving into the living room, stumbling slightly, rubbing a hand over his eyes as he tried to stifle a yawn. His father was sitting at the table, sipping a cup of coffee as he flipped through a newspaper. He looked up as his youngest son came into the room, and smiled slightly.

"Why're you up so early, Rox?" he said, putting his mug back on the table and leaning back in his chair. Roxas shrugged, pulling out his chair at the table and sitting down, resting his elbows on the table.

"Couldn't sleep. Any coffee left?" Roxas asked and Cloud nodded, standing and quickly pouring his son a cup of coffee. He sat down and passed it to Roxas with a mumbled 'it's hot'. Roxas sipped at it anyway and bit back a yelp as he burned his tongue. Cloud tutted, reaching over to ruffle Roxas' hair.

"Sora's still dead to the world, then?" Cloud asked and Roxas nodded, blinking blearily down at his coffee. He glanced at the clock on the wall. "Axel said he'd get you just after 7, so be ready, okay? And don't be rude to him, he doesn't need to do this." Cloud added. His son nodded dutifully, watching the coffee in his mug as his father stood and placed the mug in the sink. "Can you and Sora do the dishes before you leave?" he asked and Roxas hummed the affirmative. Cloud ruffled Roxas' hair, and kissed the top of his head before moving to the front door, reaching for his backpack.

"Dad?" Roxas called somewhat hesitantly. Cloud paused to look at him, but Roxas found that whatever he had wanted to say, he had forgotten. He gave a small smile instead. "Have a nice day at work…" he said and Cloud smiled.

"Thanks. See you later." He said, before leaving the flat. Roxas heard the door click shut behind him, and then stared out of the window into the soft golden glow of dawn.

**&-qp -& **

When seven-ten arrived, Sora had managed to get out of bed (after Roxas yanked his covers off and threatened to pour water on him) and the twins had managed to get dressed. Unconsciously, both had decided to wear similar things, with dark jeans, a bright t-shirt (red for Roxas, orange for Sora) and grey hoodies. When they slid into Axel's car, both of them sitting in the back, the redhead managed to stifle a laugh. The twins both shot him a neutral look and Sora played with his keys, a habit he had picked up whenever he felt threatened. Roxas ignored the both of them and stared out of the window, until they pulled up in the school car park. The twins left the car, thanking Axel with quiet mumbles.

"I'll meet you both in Roxas' homeroom at four?" Axel asked, catching up to them with a backpack slung over his shoulder. Roxas stopped to look at him, watching him for a moment before nodding silently and walking off. Sora just watched him go. Axel asked Sora quietly "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's just… Roxas." Sora mumbled, shaking his head and setting off at a jog to the school steps to sit with Kairi and Riku. Axel sighed and then felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Yanking the small black thing out, he hit the answer button and listened to the person on the other end of the phone, frowning.

He didn't notice Roxas and Sora watching him from the doorway, before disappearing into the shadows of the corridor.

**&-qp -& **

By the time that lunch came around, Roxas was relieved. He had double chemistry with Mickey, a very small pale man with weird black hair that stuck up from the side of his head, almost like ears, and a very squeaky voice. That said, he was a very good chemistry teacher, and very nice to all his students.

Roxas got his food from the canteen and instantly wove through the masses to locate Sora and the rest of his friends, finding them on one of the tables which was half in light and half in shadow. Unsurprisingly, Sora was sprawled out in the sunlight, his head resting on his crossed arms, his eyes closed. Riku continuing eating like it was normal for Sora to sleep through lunch, which, in a way, it was.

Roxas put his tray down next to Tidus'. Tidus Griffin was the school's secondary blitzball team captain, with the vice-captain being his best friend, Wakka Sanchez. They were good guys, and tried to include everyone who gave their best in the teams; their motto was 'It's not if you're good, it's if you're determined!'. Opposite Roxas, next to Wakka, was Selphie Price, one of the girl's on the cheerleading squad. She was a ball of energy, quite literally, and she was jabbering quickly to Wakka, bouncing up and down on her seat, her hands gesturing wildly.

"Who gave her sugar?" Roxas asked Tidus quietly as he straddled the bench, reaching for his apple. Tidus shrugged and poked miserably at some grey goop on his plate.

"Does anyone know what this is?" he asked, and Riku looked over, before shaking his head, sending silver hair all over his face. Riku's family, the Bai-Lindbergs, were known for their silver-coloured hair and turquoise eyes- Riku, his father, and his three brothers all looked very similar.

"I think it was supposed to be meatballs, but I wouldn't bet on it…" Riku said solemnly. Kairi choked on her water, giggling at what Riku had said. Roxas thought she was a being a bit _too_ obvious about the fact that she liked Riku, but it wasn't his place to point it out – Riku and Kairi were Sora's friends, and merely his acquaintances.

"Kairi?" Roxas looked at the end of the table, surprised to find Axel standing there, looking down at Kairi with a concerned look on his face.

"Ja?" Kairi asked, her voice coming out accented and Roxas was surprised to note that she wasn't speaking English. Axel looked around before being down to be at her level, talking quietly but still loud enough for Roxas to hear. Kairi picked at her orange, using her nails to cut out the chunks, barely even giving her brother a glance.

"Kan ik aan u voor een minuut spreken?" Axel asked, and Roxas mentally attempted to translate what he was saying. Kairi flicked a pip at Axel, who batted it away, and then put the remains of her orange down, looking at her brother, flipping her hair casually over a shoulder.

"Waarom?" Kairi asked casually, though she had a frown marring her face. Sora, who had seemingly found the energy to be conscious for this conversation, blinked sleepily and looked at his friend, frowning.

"De behoefte van I enkel… Kairi…" Axel's voice seemed to have taken on a desperate edge to it, causing him to jut out his lower lip slightly, making it fuller than his top.

"Zeker, zeker…" Kairi sighed, smiling apologetically at her friends before standing and leaving the table. Tidus gaped after her.

"Hey, what language was that?" he asked, his spoon with jell-o poised near his mouth. Riku shrugged and prodded Sora with the end of his fork.

"Dutch. Their mother's from Holland. Columbine… She's crazy." Riku explained lazily, shrugging. Something hit the back of his head and he whipped around to shoot a glare at the culprit. Roxas glanced around and spotted Riku's brother Kadaj sitting a few tables away, grinning nastily at his youngest brother. Roxas rolled his eyes and barely noticed Kairi sitting back down at the table.

"What was that about?" Tidus asked and Kairi shrugged.

"Nothing. You gonna eat those, Selphie?" the redhead asked, pointing to Selphie's tray and the subject was effectively changed.

**&-qp -& **

Roxas was stuffing books into his locker the next time he encountered Axel. The Change-over bell had just rung and he was leaving his Biology class to go to Further Maths, so he needed his huge fat textbook (of Doom), which was, ironically, stuck under the rest of his stuff.

He barely noticed Axel leaning against Pence's locker until Axel knocked on the door to his and made him yelp. The tall redhead bent slightly, grinning mischievously at the younger boy, a hand hooked casually on his jeans.

"Sora's going to Riku's afterschool." Axel said cheerfully, and Roxas, trying to calm his wildly beating heart, nodded slowly. "So… you wanna grab a coffee or something?" Axel asked casually and Roxas almost dropped his very heavy Biology folder on his foot.

"Um?" Roxas answered… Or at least, he thought it counted as an answer. He hardly though it mattered anyway, since Axel instantly took that to mean 'yes'.

"Awesome. I'll see you at four, then." And then the lanky redhead walked away, leaving Roxas reeling in his wake. Roxas merely nodded dumbly and then promptly forgot about his Further Maths class.

**&-qp -& **

Axel met him outside the homeroom at just after four. There was a backpack slung over his shoulder, and his hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, the red locks still spiking crazily as though they were revolting against the force of gravity. A pair of heavy-rimmed black glasses were perched on Axel's nose, making him look older and more like a student.

"Hey." The redhead greeted Roxas calmly, and Roxas just gave a simple nod in greeting. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Roxas agreed quietly as though afraid that Axel would pounce on him. He checked his messenger bag one more time, before nodding and following Axel to the school entrance. As they climbed into Axel's dark purple car, which clashed rather violently with his hair, Roxas glanced over his shoulder to see Sora laughing in the back of Riku's brother's, Yazoo's car. Yazoo drove both Kadaj, Riku's elder brother and Riku to the campus every day, so it shouldn't have surprised Roxas to see Sora being regarded very carefully by Yazoo. But it did.

Axel parked across the street from The Mad Hatter's, one of those hip coffee joints that all the university kids hung out in on Sunday evenings when they had nothing better to do. It was run by a young blond woman called Alice and her husband, who she only called 'Hatter', so everyone assumed it was his preferred nickname. Alice herself waved at them from behind the counter, bustling over in her blue dress and lace pinafore the moment they took a seat by the window.

"How's university, Axel?" she asked, hands on hips. Axel sighed dramatically and placed a hand to his forehead, before smirking and straightening in his seat, crossing his legs casually.

"Can't complain, Alice. How's Hatter?" he asked and Alice giggled, a hand raised to her mouth, making her look like a young girl rather than an adult.

"He's okay, thank you. Still as _mad _as ever. What can I get you?" she asked, whipping out a small notebook and pen from within her pinafore. Axel ordered cinnamon tea for both of them, and Alice left them to it, giving Roxas a wink on her way.

"I came here a lot over the summer," Axel offered by way of explanation as to why he was on such good terms with Alice and her husband. Roxas nodded vaguely, looking around at the people in the café. There was a tanned woman with long black hair sitting with a similar-looking little girl and a weird looking… blue _thing_. It might have passed for a dog, if it wasn't strumming at a guitar. Roxas couldn't help but stare at it, but then shrugged- in Oukoku, the mainland that Destiny Islands was connected to, unusual things were the norm. A blue dog playing the guitar was nothing.

Alice gave them their cinnamon teas, chatted with Axel for a bit, and then left. Roxas stared somewhat suspiciously down at the mug, but then picked it up and took a small sip of it. When he lowered his cup, he saw Axel cupping his own mug of tea, gazing at Roxas with an even stare, his green eyes cool. There was nothing said between them as Axel slowly took a sip of his tea.

"So…" Roxas said, looking highly uncomfortable, shifted in his chair.

"Arthur or Martha?" Axel suddenly asked, causing the blond to splutter uncontrollably as he choked on his tea.

"W-what?" he asked, eyes wide and unblinking. Axel only gazed innocently back at him, a smirk playing on the edges of his lips. He leaned forward in his chair, crossing his arms on the table after safely stowing away his tea.

"Are. You. Gay?" he said slowly for Roxas, almost teasingly. Roxas only stared at him uncomprehendingly before turning a brilliant shade of red, not unlike that of his T-shirt.

"N-no!" Roxas stuttered before clearing his throat. "Why do you want to know?"

"Just wonderin', is all." Axel said slyly. Roxas didn't trust that tone of voice and, by extension, didn't try Axel. He found himself suspicious of the redhead's motives behind the questions.

"R-ight." Roxas mumbled, raising his eyebrows and lifting the mug of tea to his lips. He wasn't a big face of spices, but he found the tea to be relaxing and warming, even though the day wasn't particularly cool outside.

"What about your brother?" Axel asked, which made Roxas frown, and lower his mug.

"What about Sora?" Roxas asked, a layer of warning in his voice. Axel gave him a Cheshire Cat grin, before lifting up his mug and taking a sip, not saying anything more.

**&-qp -& **

When Axel dropped him off outside their building, Roxas fished out his keys and buzzed himself into the building. He unlocked the apartment and went through it, flicking on various lights to illuminate the shadows in the corners, which always made him nervous.

He aimlessly switched on the TV, and pulled over his bag, dragging out his homework and placing it on his lap, studying quietly until he heard Sora's distinctive laugh echo up the stairs. Roxas got off the sofa and opened the door, leaning against the frame casually as he watched Sora stumble up the stairs with Riku just behind him, shaking his head in exasperation.

Roxas coughed and Sora looked up at him giggling. Roxas glanced at Riku, who shrugged.

"Yazoo gave him coke. I didn't tell him to." Riku said, referring to his second eldest brother. Roxas nodded slowly before pulling Sora into the apartment, biding good-bye to Riku. Riku gave a simple wave of the hand and then turned on his heel and walked back down the stairs, hands jammed into his pockets. He'll looked so casually cool that Roxas nearly envied him.

Nearly.

**&-qp -& **

Cloud still wasn't home by the time that Roxas decided that they should go to bed. Sora had come down from his giggling high enough to realise he had left his school work with Riku and alerted said silver-haired athlete to that fact. Riku had promised to put the bag in Sora's homeroom straight after Blitzball practice, which always happened on a Thursday morning.

A few hours after Sora and Roxas had initially gone to bed, Roxas awoke to the sound of someone moving around the kitchen. He cautiously crept out of bed, glancing at Sora to see if he was awake (he wasn't), and then made his way out to the kitchen, blinking in the bright light of the hall.

"Dad?" Roxas mumbled, his voice still half-slurred with sleep. His father was in the kitchen, washing dishes though it must be nearly three in the morning. Cloud kept sniffling, though he didn't turn to look at Roxas.

"Go back to bed, Rox. You have school tomorrow." He said firmly, though his voice wavered and he kept having to stop to take a breath. Roxas ignored him and moved further into the room, frowning.

"Dad?" he repeated and Cloud glanced over his shoulder. His eyes were red and he had tear-tracks down his face, a testament to how recently he'd been crying. Roxas was so shocked by the sight of his father crying that he was momentarily silent, before taking a few strides forward and wrapping his arms around Cloud's waist, hugging him tightly. Cloud took a breath before sobbing, putting his arms around his son and leaning their heads together.

Roxas managed to manoeuvre them to the sofa, letting Cloud sit down first before falling into his father's lap, his arm still locked around Cloud. Roxas was disturbed; he had never seen his father outright cry before. Maybe Cloud had shed a few tears here and there but rarely did he cry so much and without reservation. It made Roxas think, what had sparked this of?

"Dad… What happened?" he asked. Cloud raised his head from where it had been pressed into his son's shoulder, his face a blotchy mess.

"A new employee. He…. He recognised me." He sniffled, shaking his head. "He knew me from the news."

"The new… oh." Roxas felt his whole posture change, from slumped to tense with wariness. There was only one reason why Cloud had been in the news, and it was something that neither he or the boys felt the need to talk about. "What did he say?"

"He… he asked. About it. About what happened. And I couldn't answer him. How do you tell a stranger that… that you f-failed." Cloud sobbed again, and Roxas held his father tighter, trying to absorb some of the pain that Cloud felt.

"You didn't fail, Dad. You didn't, I swear." Roxas mumbled, pressing his hands fiercely into Cloud's back as though to remind Cloud of his presence, that he was still there. And that the past was remaining firmly where it should do- behind them.


	3. III

**&-qp -& **

The Running Sky

By Openly Red

Chapter Three:

**&-qp -& **

They fell into a routine. Every morning Roxas would wake up earlier than Sora, unlock the front door and go for a shower. During his shower, Axel would enter and shut the front door and help himself to coffee. Sora would then stumble out of his room, bang on the bathroom door and then sit with Axel until Roxas came out dressed. Sora would have his own shower and change while Roxas had breakfast, and then they left for school.

Whenever Sora went to Riku's in the afternoon, Axel would take Roxas out for coffee. Alice had soon memorised their order and just merely nodded at them when they came in, before serving them their usual cinnamon teas. They talked about nothing and everything, and every afternoon Axel would still ask him 'Are you gay?'. The answer was rehearsed – a mere 'no' and a glance and then a sip of tea.

Roxas had also begun to notice that Riku, in the mornings, would be talking to Kairi, with a look of intensity on his face, a frown usually marring his forehead. The frown would disappear the minute Sora greeted him, but the darkness within his eyes remained. His brother Kadaj also seemed to have decided to make his life hell, as not a day went by without Kadaj doing something stupid.

Like, in gym, where Roxas currently was. Their teacher, an old school-mate of their fathers, Yuffie, was bouncing around somewhere on the sidelines during their game of volleyball. She kept blowing the whistle, though no one could ever say exactly why she did, and she also kept randomly swapping team members.

"BAI-LINDBERG, YOU'RE UP!" she shouted across at Riku. Riku grudgingly got up from the bench, and took his place on the team. Kadaj was serving for the other team, and the minute Riku stood, Roxas saw a smirk pass across his lips. Yuffie blew the whistle; Kadaj threw the ball into the air and hit it, hard- slamming it directly into Riku's face.

Riku reeled back from the blow, a hand shooting up to cover his nose which had taken the brunt force of the blow, while tumbling to the ground. Sora, who shared the same gym class, gave a gasp and in seconds was running over, managing to not trip up on the laces of his trainers.

"Riku!" he exclaimed, dropping to his knees beside his friend and helping Riku to sit up, though his eyes were screwed shut.

"You all right, little brother? My bad!" Kadaj said, a smirk on his face and his voice taunting. In an instant, Riku was up and under the net, landing a very neat kick on Kadaj's stomach, making the other silver-haired boy gasp.

"You're a dick." Riku snapped simply before turning his back and walking calmly away into the changing room, Sora trotting along behind him. Roxas merely raised an eyebrow- Riku rarely got into fights if he could help it, preferring to utilise his quick wit to settle fights, rather than his fists.

Roxas shook his head as the locker room door shut behind Sora and Riku. Some things were better left alone.

**&-qp -& **

Instead of taking Roxas out for coffee later the day, as per usual when Sora went home with Riku, Axel suggested going somewhere else. Though Roxas was confused, he agreed. Axel grinned, lifted the clutch and slammed the car into reverse, backing out of the school car park with amazing speed and little grace.

Roxas watched with disinterest as Axel drove them out of the suburbs and into the main city. Because Destiny Islands was funded mainly on tourism, the main city was full of restaurants, hotels, bars and the like. Axel drove down the main high street and pulled up in an off-road car park, grabbing a different backpack out of the boot of the car as Roxas slowly climbed out.

"Bring your school bag." Axel said and Roxas grabbed it up off the floor before following Axel down the street after Axel had locked the car. Axel led them to outside a brick façade building, which had a black graffiti-style letters above the door that said 'The Alehouse'

"Is this a club?" Roxas said, embarrassed as a tone of shock and surprise seeped into his voice- why was he so embarrassed about being seeing as a lot younger than Axel?

"A bar, technically. But club works too." Axel shrugged and pushed open the main door, holding it open for Roxas to slip through. "Head to the bar, I'll be there in a sec." Axel said as he opened a door off to the side. Roxas frowned and clutched nervously at his back strap, but continued down the dimly lit hall. The hall itself was painted a deep red with black tile flooring which emphasised the squeak of Roxas' trainers. Roxas paused at a sliding Japanese-style door, before opening it and stepping into the next room.

The room wasn't much different from the hall. It was painted dark red with black tile flooring. It was a large L-shape, with one end seeming to be a dance floor of some description and the other end being a restaurant. It was at the end of this restaurant that a bar stood. It was built into the structure of the place, so the main counter was a half-wall painted deep red with black tile counter-tops. The lighting above it was dim and warm, and two people were standing behind the bar, one reading and one juggling glasses.

The one juggling glanced at Roxas, never missing a beat. He then grinned.

"Fresh meat." He sang with a British accent. He sounded almost Port Royal-ian but Roxas had never heard the accent for a long period of time, so he couldn't judge. He just froze at the edge of the restaurant. The boy who had been reading glanced up, seemed to criticise Roxas with just one purple eye, and then looked down again.

"Leave 'im alone." Axel said behind him, brushing past Roxas. He had changed out of his casual clothes into a bartender's outfit; black dress trousers, a white shirt, a black waistcoat and a black tie. His hair was down, the natural spikes defining each lock. The look suited him. He crossed to the bar, Roxas following him.

"About time you turned up, Axel." The reader mumbled, turning another page. Axel ruffled his hair.

"Nice to see you too, Zex." He joked, dodging an angry swipe from the reader.

"Who's the boy, Axel?" the British man asked, and Axel grinned at Roxas and slung an arm over his shoulder.

"This is Roxas. Rox, this Emo is Zexion and the Brit is Luxord." Axel said casually, stepping neatly behind the bar and tinkering with something hidden from Roxas' view.

"Axel, why is a kid here?" a voice echoed from behind Roxas. He turned sharply to come face to face with a very tall and pale man who was dressed in a red shirt and black trousers. His hair was long and black and held back (though rather ineffectively) by a red band. His eyes also happened to glow an eerie blood red.

"Ah, Vincent. Roxas, Vincent Valentine. Vincent, Roxas Strife." Axel said cheerfully, ducking round the corner into the bar area. He began searching for something, seemingly, but for all Roxas knew he could just be rattling glass for the hell of it. Vincent gave Roxas a studying glance, and then gave a curt nod.

"Axel, if I have a parent on my ass asking after their kid, I will kick your sorry butt from here to Midgar." He warned before leaving the room. Roxas' eyes widened in shock and then he fumbled for his mobile in his pocket. He quickly hit the speed dial to his Dad's mobile and left a message saying he would be back later than usual, but not to worry.

"Can we keep the kid behind the bar? He looks like a lost puppy." Zexion said, shutting his book and sliding it under the bar. Axel raised an eyebrow at him, and then pointed to a table in the corner nearest the bar.

"Rox, sit there. I'll bring you a cola." He said and Roxas shot him a glare before sitting down, taking out his Maths textbook. He opened the book at the page of exercises he was to do for homework, and slowly began doing his work. By the time he finally looked up from doing his work, the club was half-full of patrons and there was music filling the air. He glanced over at Axel to find him mixing a cocktail and chatting to a tall dark-haired man. Zexion was frowning as he made another drink, shooting glares at Luxord occasionally; the Brit was just standing there shuffling cards.

Axel noticed that Roxas had looked up and he grinned at him before handing the customer his drink and then ducking out from behind the bar. Roxas felt somewhat relieved that Axel was coming to keep him company- he was, afterall, sitting in a strange bar surrounded by strange people.

"You nearly ready to go home, Rox?" Axel asked and Roxas nodded, slipping his books away. Axel said something to Luxord and then led Roxas through the bar with an arm around his shoulders protectively. Roxas had to admit, he didn't mind it all that much.

**&-qp -& **

It was almost 10 by the time Axel dropped Roxas off- as Roxas had climbed the stairs to his apartment, the door was yanked open by his father, looking extremely pissed off. Roxas managed to avoid his gaze until he had actually got inside the apartment and the door had been shut, before his father went nuts.

"A PHONE CALL, ROXAS? JUST A PHONE CALL. LEFT. NO OTHER NOTICES. _WHAT _WERE YOU THINKING?" Cloud snarled at his son, his hands on his hips. Roxas shrugged.

"It was a restaurant where Axel works, Dad. Wasn't a big deal or anything…"

"A BIG DEAL?" Cloud yelled and Roxas rolled his eyes. Cloud gave him a nasty glare. "What's this place called?" Cloud asked coldly. Roxas told him and Cloud phoned phone directories and was connected through to The Alehouse. "Hello, is that-… Cloud Strife… Yes…. Yes, that's Ro-… Oh… Oh… um, okay- no. No. Right… Okay, bye." Cloud put the phone down, looking vaguely stunned. He turned to Roxas and said slowly "I think I have a date on Friday." He said slowly and Roxas' eyes widened.

"With _Vincent_?" the blond exclaimed and Cloud nodded slowly, a frown spreading across his face. "Um… Dad… you're not-,"

"**NO**- I mean, no, Rox, I'm not… but, seemingly, I'm going out tomorrow evening. On a date…" and with that, Cloud wondered to his bedroom, frowning. The door shut behind him and Roxas was left staring after his father, an eyebrow raised.

**&-qp -& **

The next day was Saturday. Roxas woke up relatively early for the weekend; Sora was still snoring loudly in the bed next to him. Roxas threw a pillow at him, and then left the room to avoid the barrage of half-asleep swearing/snoring. The blond ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to make it somewhat tidier, even as he yawned, and made his way to the living room.

Roxas dug his cell phone out of his backpack and opened a text from Hayner; it simply said 'Island?'. Roxas quickly texted back that he'd wake up Sora and let his Dad know, and then they'd be down there. Roxas woke Sora up quickly and efficiently (read; poured water over him) and then soon got dressed into board shorts and t-shirts, grabbed towels and headed down to the beach, leaving a note for their father.

The beach was about a 20 minute walk away from the apartment block- the boys kept to the sand paths that were littered across the main island to the beach, chatting between themselves. Sora was complaining about having a lot of work to do over the weekend for one of his teachers. Roxas complained about how his form tutor, Saix, was picky about everything. Soon, they reached the beach and the piers.

Each child on the island had their own little boat; it was something of a gift, it was made for each child when they were born or when they moved to the island. Sora and Roxas had each received a boat on the first weekend they were on Destiny Islands, and it was in these boats that they placed their packs for the day and set sail for the island.

They reached shore about 10 minutes later and even from a distance, Roxas had been able to see Olette standing at the peer, decked out in her usual bright orange. She was waving frantically, but also glancing behind her and Roxas could see their group forming out on the beach. By the time they had roped their boats to the pier and clambered onto shore, everyone they knew was there.

"Is there some party going on, or something?" Roxas asked Hayner, who had an arm slung around Selphie's shoulders, though she looked like she was about to gnaw the whole thing off.

"Or something, yeah. Kairi's brothers have taken over the south side, they're planning something. HEY KAI!" Hayner yelled and Selphie whacked him in the gut, causing him to let out a gasp of air and cough.

"Yeah?" Kairi called back, standing off to the side with Riku and Sora.

"What the heck are your brothers doing?" Hayner asked through gasps and splutters. Kairi raised an eyebrow at him and placed her hand on her hips.

"How should I know?" she retorted and then went back to talking to Riku and Sora, who both looked rather serious. Roxas frowned at the sight but was distracted by Pence and Olette coming over and Tidus yelling 'WHO'S UP FOR BLITZBALL?' as he began throwing out equipment. Riku shook his head at something Sora said and then went over to Tidus and grabbed a Breather; a mouthpiece that allowed those playing Blitzball to breathe underwater.

Roxas sat on the pier with Selphie and Kairi as everyone else played the game. Wakka's sister, Kida, had swum across and joined in about fifteen minutes into the game, so they were even (Pence, Sora, Wakka, Kida were on one team, with Hayner, Olette, Tidus and Riku on the other). They were pretty evenly matched, as each team had two strong Blitzball players; Kida had been the High School's first Blitzball team captain prior to graduating and starting a course in Sport Science at university, and Riku had taken her place.

The game went on for about an hour, before everyone resurfaced from the sea and swam back to shore. Riku and Tidus' team had won. Tidus was carrying the ball under his arm, and was chatting amiably to Riku, who was nodding. His hair was pushed back from his face and when he reached shore, he asked Kairi for a hair tie and tied it back in a messy ponytail.

They spent the rest of the day playing around on the island; though they weren't children anymore, the island seemed to release their childish impulses and they were playing tag and stuck in the sand and all those kind of games. It was nearing mid-afternoon by the time they all called it quits and collapsed, gasping, into the shallows.

Roxas closed his eyes, feeling the waves lapping up his body and soothing him into a deep relaxation. By the time he opened his eyes again, his vision had been bleached by the sun and everything was blue-hue; his rest had been disturbed by what had sounded like a herd of elephants trampling through the jungle that broke the island in half. Elephants that could laugh… and cackle, apparently.

Roxas sat up and looked around just in time to see two fast-moving redheads run past him, onto the pier and dove off, one chasing after the other.

Kairi, who was sitting by a lagoon, stood and glared as one recognisable redhead came spluttering to the surface. It was Axel.

"Wat doet u?" she called, cupping her hands around her mouth to emphasise the sounds. Before Axel could reply, he was dunked underwater and replaced by another redhead with a Cheshire Cat grin, who had two scars under each eye.

"Het spelen. Wat zeiden de Mamma's over het sprekende Nederlands, weinig zuster?" he called back teasingly and Kairi rolled her eyes, shaking her head and sighing.

"For someone who pays attention to Mamma's rules, you sure don't follow them!" she snapped back to this brother, before he was upended and Axel replaced him. "AXEL! Let Reno up!" Axel mumbled something about favouritism and Reno surfaced, wiping water furiously out of his eyes. The redhead brothers swam back to shore and joined their sister on the beach, each sitting beside her, dragging her back to the sand. She landed rather roughly and let out an 'oomph!', turning to glare at both of her brothers. Sora was giving the second redhead brother that was seemingly called 'Reno', a very strange look. Reno merely saluted back at him.

Kairi huffed something that sounded like an insult, and then began talking in rapid-fire Dutch to her brothers, who kept laughing and playing with her hair. Kairi took a breath at one point and Roxas heard his name somewhere in the sentence, and found he was instantly rugby tackled by a very lanky redhead who was distinctly unknown.

"OH MY GOD, AX, HE'S _ADORABLE_!" Reno crooned in Roxas' ear, squeezing him tight enough for Roxas to let out a puff of air. Axel glared at his brother, walking over to his brother and began peeling his fingers off Roxas. "Hey!" Reno yelled as he was shoved into the sand. Axel looked like he was either on par or marginally taller than his brother, and he seemed to revel in being able to loom over him like a scary reflection. They looked remarkably similar, aside from Reno having blue eyes and scars under his eyes, where as Axel's eyes were green and… were those tattoos?

"What?" Axel glanced at Roxas, who realised he must have said that last part out loud. Axel touched just below his eyes and nodded. "Oh yeah. I put make-up on them in school. Stops the Man suspending me. Hurt like a bitch, but they look _awesome_." This was a part of Axel that Roxas never saw; a childish, excitable part that played with his brother, though they were both over 20. Kairi was looking on with a smile on her face, even as Axel poked Reno with his foot where he lay on the sand.

"So, what are you guys doing on the South side?" Kairi asked, kicking sand towards her brothers. Axel and Reno gave her identical grins.

"It's a secret. Come back in… two hours, in awesome clothes, and we'll show you all!"

**&-qp -& **

_- Openlyred (23.07.08)_

_Hopefully the next chapter will be quicker coming out. If you read this at all, please leave a review; I love getting feedback. _

_3_


	4. IV

**&-qp -&**

The Running Sky

By Openly Red

Chapter Four:

**&-qp -& **

Sora and Roxas surprised themselves by spending quite a bit of time trying to find good outfits for the beach in the evening. Sora eventually settled on dark blue cut-offs with a bright red shirt that had a yellow graphic on the front (neither of them had been able to figure out what the graphic was, yet), and his usual blue trainers. Roxas found himself a pair of black skinny jeans and a white and black chequered top, which went well with his usual wrist-guard.

Cloud had bid them good-bye as he went dazedly off on his date sometime prior to the sun setting- by the time Sora and Roxas had reached the beach, it was twilight and they could see lights flashing from the south side of the island. Both boarding their boats and sailing off to their island, they exchanged normal twin-like conversation.

"You made an effort." Roxas noted, glancing at Sora out of the corner of his eye. Sora shrugged and dodged the boom as it swung round, sitting on the other side of the boat.

"I felt like it, that's all." Sora said casually, stringing the rope around his fingers nervously. Roxas raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. If Sora didn't want to talk, he didn't have to; Roxas would get it out of him soon enough. The curse of being a twin; you can't hide much for long. Roxas pretty much relied on that small fact if he ever wanted to get anything out of Sora, especially when he was in a rut.

"What about you?" Sora asked, jerking Roxas out of his revere.

"What about me?" Roxas asked back and Sora gave him a quick look which plainly said 'You're hiding something, and I know it, but I won't say just yet!'. Roxas hated that look. It usually didn't bode well for him.

"Well, you rarely wear jeans _that _tight, Rox." Sora pointed out and Roxas gave him a sharp glare and then focused his attention on tacking around a rock. The rock separated the twins from each other, but Sora rode the wind back to his place near Roxas' side. They spent the rest of the journey in silence, docking and tying up their boats quietly before making their way through the maze of tree houses, ladders and walk-ways to the south beach.

When they had both safely reached land (even though Sora insisted on shimmying down a tree), they were greeted by what would later be crowned the biggest party that Destiny Islands had ever seen. There was a DJ based on the old watch tower, with a make-shift dance floor below, and a bar was near by the decking that was usually nicknamed 'The Ship'. Axel and Reno were both at the bar, Kairi, Selphie, and a girl that neither twin had seen before, were with them. Tidus, Wakka and others from the Blitzball team (including the team Mascot, a very pale boy by the name of Donald) were out in the waves. Other teenagers of varying ages were dotted around the stretch of beach.

Axel was the first to spot them and he made a mad-dash for Roxas, picking him up off the floor. "I'm so glad you came!" he exclaimed, deafening Roxas in one ear. Sora laughed behind his hand. Roxas clamped his arms around Axel's neck in an attempt to not go flying off into the sea at the rate that Axel was swinging him around.

Even after Axel had slowed down, Roxas felt himself slide down the front of Axel's body to reach the ground again- he also felt himself flush a deep red at the motion. He was keenly aware of how tall Axel was, and how tight his jeans were, suddenly. By the time he reached the ground, he was inwardly squirming, though Axel didn't seem to notice.

"You're so damn _light_, Rox!" he pointed out and Roxas wanted to make some witty remark about how Axel wasn't exactly a bodybuilder either, but he was cut off by Axel cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting at the watch tower.

"DEMYX. THIS IS CRAP, NEW SONG." The DJ waved a hand and switched records, pressing the headphone to his ear with his shoulder. A new song started and Axel crowed in delight, looking like an excitable child, before he bounded off to the dance floor and began to dance.

Axel dancing was an interesting sight. With a body as long and thin as his, one would think that Axel would be all arms and no grace; in truth, he swung his hips to the beat, his eyes closed. A majority of the teenagers on the beach flocked to him and began dancing too, blocking Axel from sight aside from the occasional flash of bright red hair. Roxas stared after him until Sora poked him in the shoulder.

"Hayner and Olette are here." Sora mumbled, nodding towards the high-rise walk-ways, where Roxas could see his friends making their way down. Pence wasn't with them, which didn't much concern Roxas; Pence's mother liked having the evenings to the family.

When they reached the sand, Olette kicked off her sandals and picked them up in one hand, playing with the hem of her denim skirt. She spotted Roxas and waved, grinning, making her way over to them, Hayner trailing behind her.

"Wow, this music is loud!" she shouted at Roxas after coming close enough. Roxas nodded, scrunching up his face, trying to hear her voice above the music. "Who's the DJ?" Olette screamed at Axel and Axel said something back. "WHAT?!"

"HIS NAME IS DEMYX!" Axel shouted back.

"Hey, Ax, Ri, you never learnt Oukokuan national dance, did you?" Kairi called at her brothers. Axel looked slightly worried and shook his head, while Reno (who was still by the bar) raised an eyebrow. She grinned, and motioned something to Wakka and Tidus. Demyx up on the old watch tower cut the music and Wakka and Tidus began beating out a beat on drums, which had been sitting near the bar for decoration. A group formed of all those in Kairi's yeargroup and they found their dancing partners.

Roxas found Sora and they stood next to each other grinning, and they took their opening stances, one hand raised above their heads and their right foot placed further forward than their left. Wakka began singing the national anthem, in the native language, Oukokuan, as he and Tidus pounded out a beat.

The dance was quite a bit like a hula, except there was a lot more clapping and stamping involved. Roxas ducked slightly to one side and brought his hands together before twisting his foot in time to the beat. Axel was watching the group performing with interest, while Reno was clutching the table in an attempt to stay upright. Sora grabbed Roxas around the waist, and the twins turned around each other before separating and clapping again.

The dance ended with all of the dancers reciting the last line of the national anthem 'Mahasan atte ini ka akami kushi!' and clapping twice. Axel and Reno, as well as the rest of the partygoers, whooped and clapped as the dancers laughed and clapped for Wakka and Tidus, who both gave flourishes and bowed, grinning cheekily.

Axel rushed over to Roxas, grinning wildly. "Didn't know you could sway your hips quite like that, Roxie!" Roxas felt heat spreading up through his cheeks and winced, either at the comment or the embarrassment; he wasn't sure which. "You'll have to teach me the dance sometime." Axel said, winking at Roxas, before darting back onto the dance floor, dragging Roxas with him.

Roxas resigned himself to dancing and by the time the stars had come out, he had been 'grinding' with Axel for the last few hours and he was worried that he was about to throw his hip out. He stepped out of the rhythm and moved to the bar, feeling a sore lower back settling in.

"Why'd you stop?" Kairi asked as she sipped at a glass of something that was fluorescent green and probably more sugar than liquid. Roxas shrugged, helping himself to a glass of water, glancing at the blond girl who stood silently by Kairi.

"Didn't feel like dancing anymore." He mumbled, wiping the back of his hand on his forehead, and ruffling his hair in an attempt to cool down. Over the music, Roxas could hear the waves crashing against the shore. "Is it low tide?" he asked and Kairi nodded.

"Should be getting high, soon. Someone should warn Axel and Reno." Kairi said, before walking away, the blond girl trailing after her. They headed into the mass of dancing bodies. Roxas watched after them and then slowly shook his head. He placed his empty glass on the table and turned to watch the people dancing. Demyx was still DJing at the top of the old Watch tower, and Axel and Reno were interchangeable from this distance, both with wild red hair, and tall lanky bodies that made them stand out from their shorter companions. Reno's long ponytail whipped around and appeared to whip a girl behind him in the face. Then all hell broke loose. The girl's boyfriend pushed Reno, causing Reno to turn sharply, a fierce look on his face.

In a second, Axel had appeared at Roxas' side, gripping one of his shoulders. "Find Sora; we don't wanna be here when Reno gets angry." Roxas nodded slowly and darted into the crowd, finding his twin. Sora yelled over the music that he was spending the night at Kairi's, so not to worry. Roxas headed back to Axel, who nodded.

"I'll take you home." Axel murmured, glancing at Reno who had just tackled the boyfriend. They walked back to the pier and sailed back to the main beach. Roxas huddled quietly in Axel's passenger seat as they drove back in silence. The clock on the dashboard said it was nearing 2 am.

"Who was the girl with Kairi?" Roxas asked after the silence became too much to bear. Axel took his eyes off the road and glanced at him, before giving an answer.

"Naminé. She's… a friend, of Kairi's from when we lived in Twilight Town. They've been friends since they could crawl." Axel muttered, flicking on the indicator and turning down a road. Roxas nodded vaguely, glancing back at the road. The car was filled with silence, before Roxas' phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and hit the answer button, bringing it to his ear.

"Hi?"

"_Roxas? It's Dad._" Cloud's voice rang down the phone. Roxas frowned- his Dad would normally be asleep by now. "_Listen, I won't be coming home tonight. I've phoned Columbine and Killian, and they said it's okay if you want to stay with them; apparently Sora is sleeping over too._" Roxas' eyebrows disappeared into his hairline- why was his father not returning home? Roxas murmured his acknowledgement and then his father hung up on him. Roxas stared at his phone for a second, before putting the phone away.

"Um, I'm staying at your parent's house tonight." Roxas told Axel and Axel nodded. He turned down another road and gave Roxas a calculating look, before indicating right and pulling into a drive. Roxas was surprised; he didn't realise Axel had been driving to Sunset Hill, the affluent part of town rather than his home on Pearl Clam Road. Who ever came up with the road names in this city, really had no imagination!

Axel turned off the car's engine and opened the door, sliding out. Roxas followed suit, glancing at Axel's house. It was a white house with blue shutters in Victorian style, with cone-shaped roofs and slate tiling. Roxas shut the car door behind him and Axel hit the lock, and they made their way up the drive to the front door. Axel knocked, and waited, leaning against the wall. The door opened to show a tall, thin man with neat red hair and glasses blinking owlishly at them.

"Axel… I thought you were at the flat tonight?" the man murmured, a light Irish lilt to his voice. Axel shrugged, and the man stepped to the side, letting Axel and Roxas in. "Mamma's in the kitchen. She's with-,"

"AXEL?" A strongly accented voice rang down the corridor, causing Axel to wince.

"JA, MAMMA, IK KOM!" Axel yelled back and there was a sound of approval from the kitchen. Axel's Dad frowned, and sighed, giving Roxas a small smile, which Roxas returned. He had known Killian and Columbine since he was rather young, and they were always prepared to look after him and Sora if their father had to work overnight. Axel took off down the corridor, disappearing around a corner, while Killian sighed and patted Roxas on the shoulder.

"Would you like a drink, Roxas?" Killian suggested, before leading the way to the kitchen, Roxas following behind. When they entered, Axel was sitting at the kitchen table, having a hushed conversation with his mother; a tall, willowy woman with short blond hair and blue eyes. Next to her sat a man with shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes, nursing a cup of coffee, watching Axel's mother carefully.

Columbine noticed Roxas and gave him a small smile before continuing her conversation with Axel. Killian motioned for Roxas to sit down at the table. Roxas sat next to Axel, leaning back and listening to the sound of Dutch echo around the kitchen. Killian placed a mug of coffee in front of Roxas, and left the kitchen.

Axel's mum gave a sigh, shook her head and smiled at Roxas. "Hello, Roxas. How's your brother?" she asked, her voice slightly accented.

"He's good, thanks. He's coming with Kairi later." The teen replied, and Columbine nodded.

"Are you and Sora okay sleeping in Reno's old room?" she asked, and Roxas nodded. "Your Dad said you wouldn't have anything- AXEL-," Axel jerked in his seat and gave his mother a sharp glance. "Gaat u lenen Roxas sommige van uw kleren?" she asked and Axel nodded, running a hand through his hair. Columbine gave her son a smile. "Oh, Roxas, sorry, this is Axel's uncle, my brother, Leon."

"Dag," the man sitting next to Columbine murmured, while she shot him a glance.

"Hi," Roxas mumbled in reply, staring at Leon. He had a long scar on his face that seemed to give him a permanent frown… or maybe he actually just had one. Leon said something to his sister and she nodded, while he stood, and bid everyone good-night. Or what Roxas assumed was goodnight, considering he spoke in Dutch.

"Well, Roxas, why don't you and Axel go upstairs? I'm sure Kairi, Sora, Riku and Naminé will be back soon." Killian suggested and Axel stood, jerking his head for Roxas to follow him, which the blond did quietly. He and Axel used the back staircase from the kitchen to go upstairs, and then Axel led Roxas to his room.

Since Axel had been at boarding school for years, his room had always been blocked off from Roxas, so it was the first time Roxas had seen it. The wall opposite the door was painted bright orange, and a red skateboard hung from a rack on it. Axel's bed was unmade and pushed into a corner, made of a material that seemed to also be bright orange. His desk, against the wall opposite the bed, was littered with pencils and paper, and several mugs of something which may have once been coffee. Axel yanked his bedcovers back into a neat-ish looking way, and sat heavily on his bed, crossing his long legs underneath him. Roxas stood awkwardly by the door.

"Well, sit down." Axel muttered impatiently, motioning at the end of his bed. Roxas walked over and lowered himself until he was sitting right at the edge of the bed, in danger of falling off. Axel rolled his eyes, but didn't comment. There was silence for a while, until Axel cut in. "Sorry I didn't say my Uncle was here."

"It's cool." Roxas muttered in quick reply. Silence again. Axel hmph-ed and stood from the bed, fishing out his phone. It was buzzing in his hand. He answered, mouthing 'Kairi' at Roxas. They spoke in Dutch for a while, it sounded like Kairi was leaving the party with Riku and Sora and they would be back home soon. After Axel had hung up, Roxas tried to make himself look interested in what was going on. He failed. Rather miserably. So much so that Axel rolled his eyes and got off his bed, jerking his head towards the door. "Den." Was all that he said, and Roxas assumed he meant either they would go to the Den, aka the basement that was reserved solely for the children and littered with all kinds of teenage junk, or Axel was merely finishing off a word.

After going down the front staircase, a majestic oak sweeping one that curved around the side of the foyer, they went through a door off the study that opened to the basement stairs. Axel hit the lights at the top and descended into the basement, Roxas following him. They sat down in front of the television and Axel turned on the playstation, starting a two-player game with Roxas.

20 minutes, and two of Axel's victory dances, later, Sora and Riku joined them in the basement. Sora seemed to be delightfully tipsy and kept giggling over Axel swearing, while Riku looked on in seemingly mild disbelief. Eventually, Kairi came downstairs and told everyone that Naminé was sleeping, so could they all go to bed. The boys went upstairs, Axel disappearing into his room and finding some old clothes for them to wear overnight; Roxas ended up wearing a very large t-shirt that came almost to his knees and a pair of shorts. Sora and Roxas nabbed Reno's bed in the blue-themed room that was decorated with surfer pictures, while Riku resigned himself to the futon on the floor. With a cheery giggly at the lights clicking out from Sora, they fell asleep.

**&-qp-&-qp-&**

**A/N: **I HATE this chapter. Don't ask me why I'm submitting it, I'm just relieved to have finished it and now I can move on with my life, and the story. As always, please read/review. It's nice to get feedback.


	5. V

**&-qp -&**

The Running Sky

By Openly Red

Chapter Five:

**&-qp -& **

Roxas awoke on Saturday, a few weeks later, to hear Sora snoring. While this in itself was not an unusual occurrence, the loud talking coming from the kitchen was. Roxas kicked off his bed covers and headed to the kitchen, scratching the back of his neck dazedly. His father was pacing around the kitchen, slamming mugs down on the counter while snarling down the phone.

"I don't have to do _anything_. No, you listen to me, you litt- what? You have no right! Oh, really? Yes, that will stand up _so _well in court!" there was a long pause before Cloud gave a final snarl and hung up on whoever was on the other line. Roxas blinked, confused, at his father until Cloud noticed him. He instantly gave a fake smile and pretended like nothing was wrong.

"How'd you sleep?" Cloud asked, handing Roxas a mug of coffee. Roxas shrugged.

"Fine. Sora's snoring." He replied and Cloud gave him a small smile. It was a running joke that Sora snoring would be enough to wake up the whole apartment building. Cloud ran a hand through his hair and adjusted his t-shirt, regarding Roxas closely. Roxas held his father's gaze for a moment or two, and then frowned.

"What?"

"I'm just seeing if I can… see any of your mother in you." Cloud explained quietly. Roxas' eyes widened slightly, but then he remained still, allowing his father to look at his face closely, studying him. "You have her nose." Cloud finally mumbled before leaning away from his son, blinking. "That's it. Sorry to say, you look like me."

Roxas gave a small laugh, and Cloud grinned at his son. He turned and disappeared down the corridor into his bedroom, leaving Roxas alone in the living room. Within a few minutes, the phone rang. It was Axel.

"Hey, Rox, you doing anything for Halloween tonight?"

"…. Nothing, why?"

"Some friends of mine are having a party. Want to come?" Axel suggested, and Roxas merely gave a small yes. "Awesome. Bring Riku and Sora! Around 9 at 29 Cove Avenue. See ya!" and with that, Axel hung up. Roxas stared at the handset for a second before putting it back in the holder. Sora stumbled into the living room, groaning at the sunlight that streamed through the window. Cloud reappeared as well, dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt. He grabbed his phone from the counter and smiled at the boys.

"I'm going out. See you guys later." And with that, he left the flat. Sora gave a loud groan and fell face first onto the couch. Roxas threw a cushion at him, and went back to bed.

**&-qp -& **

The day was admittedly boring after the morning. After telling Sora about Axel's invitation, Riku had responded to Sora's plea for help with a costume, and arrived with arms full of black and lace clothes. When Roxas had asked where Riku had gotten them, Riku responded that his family has a 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy in place about Yazoo's clothing. The twins shrugged.

At 8, Cloud finally reappeared. He poked his head around the door to the twin's bedroom, his eyes widening as he took in the scene that greeted him. "Nice… hair, Riku." He mumbled before closing the door shut and walking away, shaking his head.

By the time the twins and Riku emerged from the bedroom, Cloud was sitting at the kitchen table, eating his dinner and reading a book. He only briefly glanced up and then he snorted into his pasta, quickly hitting his own chest to make sure he didn't choke. Sora and Roxas both glared at their father. Cloud gave a small laugh and shook his head, turning to face his twin boys with a grin. "You guys look great! This needs a picture, Sora, where's the camera?" and within seconds Cloud was up, rifling through the computer desk and eventually pulling out Sora's digital camera.

After a quick picture was taken, the three teenagers left the flat. Once on the street, Riku pulled out his car keys and unlocked his jeep. Riku's family was stinking rich and each child had top-of-the-line cars, and the fashionable clothes. That said, Riku rarely saw his mother, who worked in Japan, and his father left early in the morning and came back late at night.

With the twins firmly strapped into their seatbelts, Riku hit the engine and they took off, heading straight for Cove Avenue. Riku couldn't find anywhere close to the house to park, so they ended up down the road. Music could be heard the minute the car doors opened, and Roxas found himself gaping at the flicker of what seemed to be firelight coming from the back of the house. Riku gave him a warning glance as if to say 'If anything happens to Sora, I will personally castrate you with a rusty spoon. And tweezers.'

Roxas was the first to ring on the doorbell, and found it yanked open by a short, pale boy with lots of eyeliner. "Roxas, right?" the pale boy said and Roxas gave him a wide-eyed stare. "Zexion. I work at the restaurant with Axel." The boy said plainly and Roxas was hit by the memory recall. He smiled sheepishly.

"Hey Zexion. Um…"

"Axel's in the kitchen. Follow me." And Zexion turned on his heel. It was then that Roxas' eye was drawn to the very small miniskirt Zexion seemed to be wearing. It was slung low on his hips, and the leggings he wore beneath it were black and ripped in various 'artistic' places, leading down to loose army-style boots. Zexion swayed his hips as he walked, one finger casually hooked around a belt rung on the waist of the skirt, the other holding on to the hem of his black t-shirt, the only vaguely masculine thing he was wearing.

"ZEX-Y!" a cry came from across the room and suddenly a geisha with violently pink hair appeared out of nowhere. The geisha was rather tall and thin, with a white-painted face and pink hair slicked back into a neat bun, though no matter how much make-up they wore, the facial features were obviously male.

"Did you go into Mulan's wardrobe again?" Zexion sighed and the geisha laughed and fluttered his fan. He then spotted Roxas, Sora and Riku, and crowed.

"Oooh, is this Axel's new boy?" he asked and Zexion gave a short 'hmph' as an affirmative. Several people turned around the glance at them. "Oh, he's _adorable_. Axe-y's in the kitchen, baby boy, see ya!" and with that, he fluttered (yes, fluttered) away. Zexion shook his head and continued pushing through people until they reached a shut door. Zexion pushed it open without knocking, and held it open while Roxas, Sora and Riku walked inside. Axel and a short blond woman were leaning by the open backdoor, smoking, while another short woman, though this one with light brown hair, leaned against the counter opposite them, swigging a beer.

"Axel, friends of yours." Zexion said, and Axel turned and grinned at Roxas. He stubbed out the cigarette on an ashtray and bounded over, slinging an arm over Roxas' shoulders.

"You made it!" he exclaimed, and he took a step back to check out Roxas' costume. "Very nice, but… what are you?"

Roxas looked down at his costume. He was wearing a black tuxedo that Riku had dusted with white powder to make it look dusty and Sora had shaded in his eye sockets with dark purple eyeshadow; Roxas thought it was pretty obvious what he was.

"I'm a zombie." He said and Axel nodded. Axel himself was dressed in knee-high boots, breeches, a trench-coat and a tricorne. A large gold hoop was dangling from one ear. "Nice pirate outfit." Roxas acknowledged and the redhead grinned at him.

"Thanks! You make an awesome angel, Riku." Axel said and Riku shrugged, his silver ringlets bouncing on his shoulders. He was dressed head to toe in white and the back of his shirt had black wings printed on it. "And… vampire?" Axel said, turning to Sora. Sora was wearing a black jacket with white padded shoulders, black baggy trousers that were held close to his legs with strips of red fabric, large boots, and he had two bat-wings on his back. Sora grinned, flashing a pair of sharp teeth, and nodded.

"Dude, introduce us." The brown-haired woman mumbled, swigging at her beer again. She was dressed like cupid, in a short white dress with pink hearts dotted over it, and an quiver and arrows on her back. There was no bow in sight.

"Oh, Rox, this is Paine-," the brunette nodded. "And this is the _gorgeous _Larxene!" Axel moved over as if to embrace the blond but she mumbled something suspiciously like "You like your balls, Ax?" and he moved away. Paine hopped off the counter and stood before Roxas, eyeing him up and down as if calculating him. Roxas stared back.

"What?" she snapped and Roxas held up his hands in the standard surrender position. Axel moved between them, grinning cheekily at the girls. Larxene smirked, and posed in her nurse's uniform, sticking her tongue out.

"We're gonna go find Kairi, see ya, Rox!" Sora chirped and he and Riku left the kitchen. Roxas glanced back at Zexion, who raised an eyebrow and shifted his weight on one hip. Roxas couldn't help but stare at him for a few seconds, before turning his attention back to Axel.

"Roxie, wanna dance?" Axel asked, snatching Roxas' arm and dragging him out of the kitchen. Paine and Larxene's laughter echoed after them. Axel led him to the living room, where it was in twilight and he began swinging his hips to the beat.

Again, he and Axel danced for a while, before Roxas staggered off to find a drink. He was surprised when Zexion appeared in front of him, holding a red plastic cup. Roxas smiled and took it off him, glancing inside; it looked like cola.

"Thanks," he said. Zexion shrugged.

"Wanna go outside?" the violet-haired boy said. Roxas shrugged and followed him outside; they both ended up sitting on the back decking, Roxas sipping at his drink (which tasted like petrol) while Zexion lit up a cigarette. With the white stick resting against his lips, Zexion glanced to the side, his one visible eye looking Roxas up and down. Roxas shifted uncomfortably.

"Are you a student at Destiny U?" Roxas asked and Zexion nodded. "What're you studying?"

"Film major, a minor in Japanese Literature." He replied, smirking at Roxas' confused expression. "I'm from Osaka. Took up a place here because I was sick of Japan."

"Zexion isn't a very Japanese name…" Roxas said, an eyebrow raised.

"It's pronounced differently in Japan." Zexion pointed out and he smirked. "Zeh-ku-shi-on." He said, and Roxas gave a small laugh, gulping down the rest of his drink. It burned like fire in his throat and his head was feeling lighter than usual. "Woah, don't drink that all so quickly."

"So… you work with Axel?" Roxas asked, feeling his tongue act like a weight in his mouth. Zexion nodded and gave him a very odd look. "What's he like?"

"He's a good bartender; he's always chatting up customers. He's a flirt, though."

"Oh… Wait, isn't the bar a…?"

"A gay club? Yes, yes it is. Didn't Axel tell you?" Zexion asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Tell me what?"

"Axel's gay, Roxas." Zexion said in a serious voice, frowning. Roxas gave a laugh, surprised by his own reaction to the news, and the fact that he couldn't stop smiling. Zexion gave him a glance and then, before Roxas knew it, had leaned over and placed his lips against Roxas'.

Roxas had once, when he was 13, tried to kiss Olette. It had been a clumsy mashing of faces, and Roxas and Olette had later agreed to never try it again, as it was obvious they had a brother-sister relationship. She had laughed when he had pulled a face at the memory of the feel of their lips against each other, and hugged him. That was the end of it.

But this was very different. Zexion's lips were warm and not as soft. Zexion was kissing him harder than Olette had, and Roxas was very, very aware of the fact that Zexion was male. As quickly as it had started, it ended. Zexion sat back, staring at Roxas with calm eyes. Roxas stared back at him, before Zexion slowly stood up and brushed down his skirt, stamping out the cigarette with one army boot.

"Sorry." Zexion quickly apologised, and Roxas made a small noise, blinking rapidly as Zexion turned on his heel and made to walk away.

"W-wait." Roxas called and Zexion turned to face him. Roxas felt the heat rising up his face. "I-i.. It was nice... um…" Roxas struggled to find the words he wanted to use to express himself. "I… I'm not gay, though!" Roxas felt, for some reason, that it was very important to point that out. Zexion smirked, and moved to sit back down to Roxas.

"Roxas… being gay is nothing to be ashamed of. Look at your brother…" Zexion pointed out and Roxas quickly stood.

"Sora isn't gay!" he said fiercely and Zexion raised his hands in the standard surrender position. "He isn't…" Roxas muttered petulantly, and Zexion gave a small laugh.

"Do you want to go back inside?" Zexion said, standing and offering his hand to Roxas. The blond looked at it before nodding and taking Zexion's hand with his own, comfortably letting his palm rest against Zexion's as they went back inside.

The party was still booming, though many people had sat down. Axel, Larxene, Paine and Sora were all on the floor, along with those who hadn't given up dancing yet. Axel spotted them, grinned and waved, though his face fell slightly when he spotted their intertwined hands. Roxas opened his mouth to call Axel over when someone beat him to it.

"AXEL!" a hoarse-sounding voice shouted over the music. Axel paused and glanced over his shoulder, his face breaking into a smile as he spotted three unfamiliar figures. Leading was a relatively tall man with tanned skin and dark eyes with black dreadlocks that had things like beads and even… was that a feather?... braided into them, as well as a small goatee. He too was dressed like a pirate, as were his two companions; another man, this one pale with brown curly hair swept back in a ponytail, and an olive-skinned woman with long blond hair who was wearing an elaborate dress. Axel stared at them for a few moments and then gave a loud 'Whoop!' and bounded over to them.

"JACK!" Axel crowed and he flung himself at the tanned man, pressing their lips together roughly. 'Jack' seemed to respond quite happily to the kiss, though Roxas' jaw dropped. Zexion placed a finger under his chin and poked his jaw back into place, sharing a sidelong glance with the blond. Roxas nodded, understanding the signal.

"Jack, for Goodness' Sake!" the woman groaned, rolling her eyes. The man next to her laughed. Axel relinquished his hold on Jack and turned to the woman.

"Good to see you too, Lizzie." He said, embracing her gently. She sighed and rested her head against his chest for a moment, before hitting him on the arm and smiling softly. Axel moved onto the other man, and embraced him as well, naming him as 'Will'. "When did you guys get here?" Axel called over the music and Will shrugged.

"About three this afternoon. Barbossa drove over." He replied. Axel grinned, and he grabbed Jacks hand and dragged him over to Roxas and Zexion. When he stopped in front of them, he slung an arm over Jacks shoulders, and pulled Lizzie in against him, holding her waist.

"Roxie, meet the infamous Jack Sparrow of Black Pearl Boarding School, Lizzie, the Governor's beautiful daughter and Will, the… not so beautiful… son… of…. Who was your dad, again?" Axel asked Will, who put a hand to his face in exasperation. The subject was effectively dropped by Lizzie shooting Will a warning look.

"Nice to meet you." Roxas said quietly and Axel's three friends watched him with interest. Jack was the first to speak.

"You're the Strife kid?" he asked and Roxas nodded slowly, not sure if that was a good or bad thing. "Axel's been talking about you-," at that point, Axel elbowed him in the side and Jack doubled up, gasping for air. Axel grumbled something about taddle-tales and Liz giggled behind a hand.

"Jack, you know you have those moments where your brain goes 'Maybe I shouldn't…'?"

"I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by." Jack gasped, giving a cough and slowly straightening. Axel mumbled something about 'new material' when suddenly there was a shriek from Kairi.

"ROXAS!" she yelled and Roxas turned to face her, his face draining of colour. "It's Sora, and Riku! They're fighting and I think Sora's injured!" she cried, pointing outside. Roxas turned on his heel and ran, finding Riku and Sora near the drive. Sora was doubled over, his arm cradled against his chest, tears streaming down his face while Riku was shouting unintelligibly. Axel had followed Roxas, and he went over to Riku and physically restrained him, using his height to his advantage. He was talking quietly and quickly, so only Riku could hear, and the white-haired teenager visibly sagged. Roxas was with Sora, trying to find where he was injured.

"Sora, where is it? Is it your arm?" Sora shook his head. "Your chest." Sora shook his head again and sobbed, staggering against Roxas. Roxas grabbed Sora's arm and slowly drew it away from his chest; in the darkness, he could only just make out a slow stain spreading across the front of Sora's shirt. He felt all the blood rush to his head, making his ears ring. "Somebody call an ambulance." He murmured, just as Sora fainted, Roxas quickly joining him in unconsciousness.

**&-qp -& **

**A/N: **Life is hectic. End of. Sorry if this chapter is crap, but trust me when I say it's leading up to things. All shall be revealed, mwuahaha…. Eventually. Now, it's snowing and I want a snow day off school tomorrow, so I'm going to sleep.

Night! Xx

(PS: Reviews make me very happy and heal Sora's injuries!)


	6. VI

**&-qp -&**

The Running Sky

By Openly Red

Chapter Six:

**Bold - Sign Language**

**&-qp -& **

The stain on Sora's chest had been blood, stemming from, what the doctor's thought to be, a stab wound to his chest. Sora wouldn't tell anyone how he got the injury, and so Cloud pointed the finger of blame towards Riku, who had been present at the time. Roxas had phoned Cloud from the hospital and the blond man had arrived, guns blazing, to find one of his sons in shock and the other asleep in a hospital bed.

While Cloud was off talking to a doctor, Roxas snuck into Sora's room. Sora stirred as Roxas climbed up onto the bed next to him, and lay down, their shoulders brushing. In times of stress, the twins often slept side-by-side, recreating an ultrasound picture of them that Cloud had pinned to the fridge, Roxas curled over Sora as though protecting him. Sora looked over at Roxas, his eyes wide and clear.

"What happened?" Roxas whispered and Sora shook his head.

"Not here. Please…" Sora glanced at the door, and Roxas understood; Sora was being watched because Riku was suspected of assault. "But, Riku didn't do anything. I swear, it wasn't Riku!" Roxas looked into Sora's eyes, deep blue like his own and nodded; Sora wouldn't lie about anything as serious as this. Sighing, Roxas hauled himself up higher on the pillows and curled himself over Sora, one of his hands going to rest on one of Sora's shoulders. Sora's hand came up to close over his own and they fell asleep like that.

**&-qp -&**

Roxas woke up to his father shaking his shoulder. Blinking sleepily, Roxas sat up slowly to find himself in the back of a car, his father handing money over to the driver. Roxas slowly slid out of the car and headed for the apartment block door, leaning against the door frame in an attempt to stay upright. Cloud helped him up the stairs, into his pyjamas and into bed. Roxas dozed for a while, staring at Sora's empty bed. After twenty minutes, he slid out of his bed, and padded to his fathers.

Roxas nudged open the door to find Cloud sitting up in bed, flicking through an old photo album. Cloud glanced up as his son entered the room, smiling softly and patting the free side of his bed. Roxas climbed into the bed next to his father and settled back against the pillows, watching Cloud flick through.

"Do you remember this one?" Cloud asked, pointing to a picture of Sora and Roxas cramped onto a swing at the local park, Roxas standing behind Sora, who was sitting, both of them grinning at the camera. Roxas nodded, yawning. "I can remember, two seconds after this was taken, you fell backwards off. Cracked your head pretty badly, I had to take you to hospital. God, that scared me." Cloud murmured, using a finger to trace little Roxas' hair.

"Riku didn't hurt Sora, Dad," Roxas mumbled. Cloud turned to look at him. "Riku wouldn't ever do that. You know he wouldn't hurt Sora." Cloud sighed and ran a hand through his hair, closing the album.

"I know Riku wouldn't. He's a good kid. But… I wish Sora would say what happened. Until then, I… I have to keep suspecting Riku. Because he's the only logical explanation." Cloud shook his head again, and leaned back, blinking rapidly. "God, Rox, I'm so terrified. My kid got _stabbed_ and he won't tell me what happened!" He reached for Roxas, who curled against his father's side, letting Cloud hold him close. Cloud pressed a kiss to Roxas' temple, holding him close and rocking him slightly. "You guys are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I don't regret you one bit, not one moment, and Christ, I would walk through burning buildings for you two." Cloud said fiercely and Roxas clutched at his father's t-shirt; he knew how much his father had risked losing by taking them rather than leaving them to be adopted.

Slowly, still curled in his father's embrace, Roxas fell asleep.

**&-17 years earlier -& **

A tall teenager paced up and down a hospital corridor, watched from the sidelines by his seemingly calm parents. His Mother, a petite woman with a tangle of blond curls, was flicking through a magazine and his Father, a tall, thin gentleman with slowly greying hair, watched him walk back and forth, back and forth, with the sort of bored interest one experiences when watching trees fly by when driving.

"Cloud, sit down, boy!" his Mother eventually snapped and the teenager stopped, pushing his hair away from his face. "Nobody dies in childbirth anymore, so sit down!" her son went to sit by her, tapped his feet nervously on the floor.

"Mama, I'm _scared_." He admitted in a small voice and his Mother sighed and shut her magazine, handing it to her husband. She took his hand in her own and patted it.

"Baby, if you want to see those babies, you can, but if you don't, no one's going to make you. Rose can come and take you home now, if you want to leave." She offered, referring to his older sister. The boy shook his head, staring at the floor.

"I want to see them, Ma." He said and then he leaned forward and caught his father's attention; moving his hands rapidly he signed out '**I'm going to see the babies.**' His father smiled and signed back. '**I'm glad you'll see them. There's nothing like seeing your own children.**'

Just as the teenager raised his hands to reply, a nurse called his name.

"Cloud Strife?" she asked and he stood and nodded slowly, gulping. She smiled sweetly at him. "D'you want to come with me? They're waiting for you." She said and held out a hand, offering him support. Cloud nodded and slowly took trembling steps towards her, until she could take his elbow and guide him gently to the nursery. "They're very small, but you can still hold them. They aren't named yet, but we usually leave that to the adoptive parents to decide." She told him little things as they walked down the corridor and into a small room with two cots set to one side.

Cloud stopped breathing. He knew his children were in those cots, and all of a sudden, he was absolutely petrified beyond belief. He wanted nothing more than to run back for his mother, but found that his feet were moving him forward until he was peering over the edge of the cots and looking down.

They were perfect. Both with rosy faces and button noses, eyes scrunched closed and cupid's bow lips. Cloud surprised himself by letting out a sob. He turned to the nurse. "W-what are they?" he asked and she smiled kindly.

"Two boys. This one," she touched one of the twins, who mewled softly and wrinkled his nose. "Was born about five minutes before the other. She did very well, your girlfriend."

"H-has she seen them?" Cloud asked, gently using the tip of his finger to touch the shell of the younger twin's ear. The nurse's smile dropped slightly.

"No, she asked not to see them. Shame really, they are such beautiful boys."

"C-can I hold them?" Cloud asked. The nurse smiled again and directed him to sit down on a chair. He sat heavily and she arranged his arms, before slipping the twin boys into his embrace. Cloud gasped, feeling their warm weight settle against him. He screwed up his eyes and surprised himself by crying; just a little. The nurse made to take them away but Cloud shook his head. "Not yet. Please, just let me hold them. C-can you get my Mum?" he asked and the nurse smiled and stuck her head out the door, calling to another nurse to fetch his mother. She arrived, bouncing with contained excitement. She went straight to Cloud and leaned over, cooing at the twins.

"What's the matter, baby?" she asked, glancing at Cloud's tear-stained face. Cloud sniffled and then shook his head.

"Mama, I can't get rid of them! I can't, I can't leave them here to be taken away by someone else, they're my babies, my kids and Mama, I love them _so much_ and they don't even have names yet and Ma, please, please, I will do anything, but just let me-,"

"All right." She said simply and Cloud stopped in his plea. He blinked at her. "Baby, you want to raise these babies because you love them and they're _yours_. I won't take that away from you, just like _her _ parents have." She said 'her' with such venom, Cloud was surprised her eyes didn't shoot lasers. She reached down and took one of the twins off him. "Now, we're gonna need to give you two names, yes we are!"

"I… I thought about names. Names I liked." Cloud mumbled and his mother smiled at him, encouraging him to go on. Cloud glanced between the two twins and looked down at the one in his arms. "This is Sora. Sora Michael Strife." And he then looked at his mother, and the child resting in her arms. "And that's Roxas James."

"Sora and Roxas. Anagram names for twins, how interesting! Oh, here," his mother gave the nurse Roxas and kissed her sons forehead. "I'm gonna go tell Pop, and then I'll do the paperwork. You wait here, baby, and you get to know these gorgeous boys of yours."

**&-qp -&**

Cloud was woken up at 3 in the morning by a lone wail echoing out from the nursery. Giving a groan, he sat up in bed and shook his head, trying to wake himself up. He slid out from underneath the warm duvet of his bed and padded across the hall to the twin's nursery. He flicked on the light, and went over to Sora's cot, and lifted his son into his arms. Resting his son against his chest, Sora calmed down and grizzled into his shoulder, his little whines punctuated by gasps of air. Cloud sighed and went over to Roxas- he was just lying on his back, watching the proceedings calmly. Cloud smiled softly and used his free hand to rub Roxas' belly.

"Why can't you guys sleep through a night, eh? I have a Math test tomorrow and Daddy needs his sleep." Cloud cooed, not really at all mad. The nursery door creaked open and Cloud looked over his shoulder to watch his sister enter the room. Rose's curly hair was tied back in a ponytail, and she was tying a dressing gown closed. She stood by the door, then stepped further in and picked up Roxas, who gurgled happily. Already the differences in the twins were becoming clear; though they had both been born with blond hair, Sora's had began to darken soon after Cloud was allowed to bring them home. Roxas was far calmer than Sora, and spent more time just watching, while Sora liked to be doing things, all the time. They both had the deep ocean blue eyes that Cloud and his mother had, while Rose and his father had brown eyes.

Rose cooed into Roxas' ear, murmuring a song. "_I know you, I've walked with you once upon a dream…_" she sung as Roxas curled a hand around her neck, holding on. Sora's grizzling slowed to a stop as Cloud swayed in time to the song, brother and sister calming the twins together. Rose smiled at Cloud, rubbing a hand down Roxas' back soothingly.

"They're really cute, y'know." She said. Cloud smiled. "Even if they do cry during the night."

"I'm sorry, were you sleeping?" Cloud said, apologising for the twins since they couldn't. He placed Sora back in his cot and leaned over the edge, poking Sora's nose softly. Sora screwed up his face and mewled.

"Not really. Watching a film…" Rose murmured, walking over. "Maybe you should try putting them in the same crib? They might not cry then." She said and Cloud nodded. Rose lowered Roxas down next to his brother and the twins interlocked fists, both waving up in the air at their father. Cloud laughed and Rose smiled, before turning away. "I'm going back to bed. See you in the morning."

"Hmm, good night." Cloud murmured and Rose left, pulling the bedroom door to behind her. Cloud sighed and leaned over the edge, kissing both the twins good night and then leaving, flicking off the light and walked back across the hall to his own room, climbing into bed and falling asleep.

The twins never cried in the night after that.

**&-Present -&**

In the morning, Roxas woke up alone in the bed. A note pinned to the door said that his father had gone to the hospital to collect Sora, who was allowed to come home. Roxas made himself a cup of coffee and settled in to watch Sunday morning television; when he had just found a semi-decent channel, the intercom buzzed. He sighed and hit the release button, assuming it was his father and brother. When a knocking came from the door, Roxas realised it probably wasn't. Peering through the spy hole, he saw Zexion standing there, a lollipop between his lips. Shocked, Roxas opened the door and let him in.

"I'd thought I'd come check on you." Zexion said by way of greeting as he stepped into the apartment. He placed a kiss on Roxas' cheek, twirling the lollipop stick in his fingers, before walking further in. Roxas shut the door behind him. "Sora still not back yet?"

"Uh, no… Dad went to get him… um… how did you know where I live?"

Zexion shrugged. "Axel told me."

"…Oh." Roxas mumbled, heading over to the kitchen and making a pot of coffee, not sure what else to do. He gave Zexion a mug, black, which the violet-haired boy gratefully accepted. They sat next to each other, watching TV, not talking.

Cloud and Sora arrived back at the apartment less than an hour later. Sora greeted Zexion happily while Cloud watched him suspiciously. Roxas piped up, defending his… friend? "Zexion was with me when Sora was hurt. He called the ambulance." Roxas didn't know whether that was true or not, but if Cloud liked the sound of it, it was all okay. Cloud nodded slowly and carefully lowered Sora onto the sofa, Sora grimacing before relaxing into the cushions.

"How're you feeling?" Roxas asked and Sora shrugged.

"Been worse."

"… When?" Roxas asked incredulously and Sora grinned. Roxas shook his head and went back to sipping at his coffee with his eyes glued to the TV. He found himself leaning back against Zexion, relaxing against the slightly taller boy. Half an hour later, Cloud said he was going out to the shops and left. Sora instantly turned to Roxas.

"It wasn't Riku." He said, his voice breathy and panicked. Roxas nodded, setting down his mug and turning to face Sora while Zexion watched on with interest.

"Who was it?" Roxas asked his brother and in moments Sora's face had completely drained of colour.

"It was _him_. He's back. I don't know how he found me, but he did, and he stabbed me and Riku was yelling, trying to alert everyone that there was someone around, who really shouldn't be there." By now, Roxas too was pale. Zexion placed a hand on Roxas' shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"Who is this 'Him'?"

"Do a newspaper search. About 14 years ago, the summer." Roxas said quietly and Zexion's hand tightened, giving him a comforting squeeze.

"Shit, I had to research that time period for class. Wait, you guys are- are _those_ twins?" Zexion asked and Sora nodded slowly. "Oh my God… The papers, they didn't go into much detail, but –,"

"Don't." Roxas said, stopping him in his tracks. "Please. Neither of us remember much, and what we do remember, we don't want to talk about." Zexion nodded slowly, wrapping an arm around Roxas' waist, drawing the smaller teenager back against his body. Roxas stiffened under Sora's gaze, but then his twin smiled, approved, and the blond relaxed again, leaning against Zexion comfortably.

Zexion pressed a small kiss to the top of Roxas' head, and Sora gave a small grin, before stretching, though he grimaced at how it pulled on his stitches, and crossed his hands behind his head, relaxing as the TV continued to speak.

**&-qp -&**

Zexion left soon before Cloud came back from the store. He gave Roxas a small kiss, which left Roxas feeling awkward and uncomfortable about it all, even as he shut the door. It didn't help that as soon as the door shut, Sora started singing 'Roxas has a boyfriend, Roxas has a boyfriend!' loudly. Roxas threw a cushion at his brother and crossed his arms, pouting.

"Please, don't tell Dad." Roxas asked his brother and Sora shrugged, turning back to the TV, feigning disinterest.

"Why would I?" Sora said and Roxas smiled. "You're not the only one who has secrets, Rox." Sora murmured, almost too quiet for Roxas to hear, but the blond picked it up and frowned. He would bring this up again. Soon.

**&-qp -&**

Monday morning came and while Sora stayed at home, recovering from his wound, Roxas caught a lift with Axel to school, as usual. Unusually, though, was the fact that Axel stayed silent as he drove, even with Roxas' weak attempts at conversation. When they pulled up outside the school, Axel turned to face Roxas, with a serious look on his face.

"Look, I'm not judging, really," Roxas waited for the 'but'. "But… Zexion's got history. He's never been exactly… faithful to his other dates. Just… it's just a warning, Roxas." He said quietly and Roxas nodded slowly. Axel let out a long breath and nodded slowly, before unlocking the doors so they both could slid out.

"I'll see you in homeroom." Axel said and Roxas nodded, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and setting off for the High School while Axel walked in the opposite direction toward the University. Roxas paused and looked back over his shoulder. Axel had mingled in with the other students, blending into the mass of other people, only his bright red hair identifying him as an individual. With a sigh, Roxas came to a realisation. Axel was just like everyone else. Regardless of his sexuality, he still blended in; he still _fitted _in. With a lighter heart, Roxas continued on his journey to his homeroom, never noticing the eyes watching him from behind tinted windows.

**&-qp -&**

**A/N: **BOH-YEAH! I like this chapter, which is a good thing. I thought I should include some history, just so y'all could get a feel of what this is all like for Cloud.

OKAY, then, I have a 'poll'. At this point, the story could branch out into two directions. I'm not going to say what the options are, because I do want to keep it all a surprise, but here it is; when you review, leave a little message at the bottom with either A or B in it. I'll count up which is more and that storyline will come in. The storyline that doesn't win will be picked up at some point, but the storyline that wins will now become the main focus. Make sense?

As always, thanks for reading and please leave a review!


	7. VII

**&-qp -&**

**The Running Sky**

**By Openly Red**

**Chapter Seven:**

**&-qp -&**

A week had passed. It was the weekend again. And Riku's birthday. Which meant that Sora and Roxas were currently trekking around Destiny Island's _one_ shopping mall in an attempt to find a suitable gift for the silver-haired teenager.

"What about a book? He likes Sci-fi!" Roxas suggested as they passed a bookstore for the third time. Sora shook his head.

"No! It's his eighteenth, Rox, he needs something… special!" Sora exclaimed, waving his hand expressively. Roxas rolled his eyes and shoved his hands into his pockets, bored out of his mind. "How about… no, no, he has one of those…" Sora continued to mumble to himself.

"SORA! ROXAS!" came a call from across the balcony. Roxas glanced over to see Kairi with her brothers and the pale, blonde girl who had accompanied her to the beach party, standing on the other side. She waved and took off at a jog to come over, skidding to a stop in front of Sora, her pale pink skirt swishing against her legs. "Are you searching for a present for Riku, too?" she asked Sora, and the brunette nodded. They both began chattering, exchanging ideas and coming up with plans while Roxas waited for Axel to arrive with Reno and the girl.

"Hey Rox. No ideas yet?" Axel asked, leaning against the bookstore door. Roxas shrugged.

"I don't even know anymore." He said, sighing. Axel gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. "I haven't heard from Zexion in a while…" Roxas murmured and he felt Axel tense. He turned to look at him. "Axel?"

"Yeah, um… Zexion's dating some guy now… Lexaeus or something like that. He's a martial arts instructor… Big guy. Not really Zex's type, actually, but… I guess he didn't tell you." Axel muttered and Roxas stared at him for a second and then nodded. "I'm sorr-,"

"Don't be. You warned me after all. And we weren't dating anyway." Roxas said softly and Axel gave his shoulder a squeeze. "I don't like guys anyway," the short boy added, just as the blond girl approached. He missed Axel's expression falling.

"Hi," she began softly. "You must be Roxas." Roxas gave her a small smile and nodded, offering his hand. She shyly accepted it and they shook.

"Yeah. You're Naminé, right?" he asked and she nodded slowly, her blond hair falling into her eyes. She reached up and tugged it back, behind her ear, while looking at Axel. "I've seen you around with Kairi quite a bit. Did you recently move here?"

Naminé frowned, her gaze dropping to the floor sadly, as though there was something Roxas was missing, but she nodded slowly. Axel put an arm around her shoulders, giving her a tight squeeze before letting her go. Naminé gave him a small smile, before walking over to Kairi and intertwining their hands, resting her head on Kairi's shoulder. Sora didn't even stop in his rant about the 'perfect gift'. Roxas raised an eyebrow. 'He must really want to get Riku something special…' he thought, but he couldn't think for long as Axel pounced on him.

"Gah!" Roxas yelped as Axel hooked an arm around his neck, pulling him close.

"MY POOR ROXIE LOOKS SO WORRIED!" Axel crowed, causing a few women who were wondering nearby, to suddenly turn and totter off in their heels. Roxas spluttered something about choking before Axel quite unceremoniously picked him up and balanced him on his hip, like a child. Roxas' face went bright red.

"AXEL! Put me down!"

"Axel, stop hem plagen." Kairi sighed, glancing over her shoulder while Reno cackled behind a hand. Axel stuck his tongue out at Kairi, and turned. Roxas yelped and flung his arms around Axel's neck to steady himself, effectively burying his face in Axel's neck.

"Nou, hoe anders denk je dat hij zal krijgen de hint, Kairi?" Axel asked, and the blond in his arms could hear his voice vibrating in his throat, buzzing slightly in his ear. He had a feeling that the siblings were talking about him.

"Ik weet niet, hoe zit je gewoon vertellen hem, broertje?" Reno said, his voice taunting, dancing from his place behind Kairi and going to stand behind Roxas, pressing his hips teasingly against the blond's ass. Roxas yelped and pressed himself further against Axel, turning to glare at Reno, who grinned.

"Attendin' tonight's party then, Roxie?" Reno asked, and Roxas nodded slowly, as though afraid Reno would eat him. Axel let him go and lowered him slowly to the floor. Roxas felt every damn inch. By the time he was finally back on his own two feet, he was pretty sure he was very very red. "See ya then! C'mon Naminé, yo, let's go get some ice cream!" Reno said and he led the blond girl away with an arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, Rox, Kairi and I are gonna go present-hunting? Wanna join?" Sora called and Roxas looked at him before smiling.

"I'm gonna hang out with Axel. Gimme a call when you're done!" Roxas shouted after Sora's retreating back. He had his arm slung around Kairi's waist and they were laughing together, so Roxas was pretty sure Sora didn't hear him. He sighed and turned to face the redhead.

"…. What?" Axel asked after a long pause.

Roxas merely grinned.

"Entertain me!"

**&-qp -&**

Two hours later, Axel and Roxas staggered out of the cinema, laughing their heads off.

"A-ha!-and did you see those _wings_? _Why _were they behind his head?" Axel crowed, stopping to lean against a store front of catch his breath. Just when he thought he was calm enough, he spotted Roxas, who was crouched in a ball on the floor, laughing so hard he was crying. Four teenage-girls walked past them with 'TEAM EDWARD' T-shirts on, and one sniffed and stuck her nose in the air. Her lackeys followed, tugging indignantly on their t-shirts. Axel paused for a second, sniffling, before bursting into laughter again. Roxas was practically howling by this point and he stood up and staggered over to Axel, burying his face in the other boy's t-shirt. They stood together for a while, and slowly calmed down, Axel soothed by the motion of running his fingers through Roxas' hair unconsciously. By the time that the laughter had subsided, Roxas was breathing heavily, his head resting against Axel's chest and Axel's fingers curled in his hair. Roxas turned his head to look up at Axel and met the bright green eyes of the redhead. There was a long pause. Roxas merely stared at Axel, his breathing slowing even more until they were both breathing at the same pace. Axel leaned down. Roxas moved up.

… And then Roxas' pocket vibrated.

Leaping away from Axel, the blond scrambled for his phone, flipping it open.

"Hello?... Hi, yeah… Oh… Sure… Um, okay. Is Dad…? Oh. 'Kay. Yeah, see you later." He flipped the phone closed again. Clearing his throat, he avoided catching Axel's eye. "Sora and Kairi have gone back to your parents to get ready. Apparently Sora has a store of clothes there. So, could you drop me off at my flat? Dad's out, so…" Axel nodded and they headed towards the car park. "How's Reno gonna get home,-?"

"Oh, he brought his car. He's probably taken Naminé home already." Axel said indifferently. Roxas nodded slowly. They eventually found Axel's car and climbed in and left. They were on the bridge connecting the Commercial Island to the Residential Islands when Roxas next spoke.

"Zexion said you were gay, Axel." He said bluntly. Axel gave him a sidelong look and then shrugged.

"Yeah, so?"

"…Do your parents know?" Roxas asked and Axel grinned.

"'Course! The Dutch are stupidly liberal, my Oma is all 'Axel, you must get married here!' because Holland is all good on the gay marriage front… So, unless my parents want to risk the wrath of a stupidly scary Dutch woman, they accept it."

"What about your grandfather?" Roxas asked. Axel shrugged.

"Died before I was born. Why do you keep asking?" he asked, sending Roxas a sidelong glance with a smirk. Roxas felt the colour in his face rise and he turned away, running a hand through his hair nervously.

"No reason. Just… wondering, is all…"

"Sora talks about your grandfather sometimes. Nathan, isn't it? Wasn't he the one who taught you guys to sign?"

"Yeah. He's dad's dad."

"You guys are fluent in sign language, aren't you?" Axel asked and Roxas turned to face him, a small smile on his face.

"Fluent is a weird way to put it, but yeah. We can sign."

"Yeah, Sora was speaking to Naminé once in it. Her Dad was deaf." Axel said nonchalantly and Roxas made a mental note of the past tense he used. Had Naminé's father died and sent her here to be cared for? How weird. "Is it hot in here?" Axel asked and Roxas frowned.

"No, not really. Why?" Roxas answered. The redhead just shrugged and continued driving. They reached Roxas' flat shortly after and made their way inside. Axel said he'd hang around while Roxas grabbed some clothes, then they'd go to his parents house. By the time Roxas had located the clothes he wanted, Axel was flushed slightly red and Roxas was concerned.

"Are you hot?" he asked and Axel shrugged.

"C'mon, dad's making dinner." Axel said, and Roxas nodded, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and locking the apartment behind him. They drove to Axel's parents house and the door was flung open by Columbine, her eyes wide with concern.

"Axel, come in! Upstairs, now!" she ushered Axel inside and up the stairs, out of sight. Killian appeared seconds later, popping his head out of the library, giving Roxas a smile.

"Come on in, Roxas. Sora and Kairi are in the kitchen, go join them." He said and Roxas nodded, stepping into the house, closing the door behind him and dropping his bag beside the door. He went into the kitchen to see Kairi and Sora huddled around a cake, which they were currently icing, or rather, attempting to. Sora had white powder in his hair, which gave him the look of an old man and Kairi had the same powder all over her face. They were both giggling hysterically.

"Hey Rox!" Sora grinned, moving to hug his brother. Roxas pushed him away with a hand to his chest.

"Woah, no way!" Roxas warned and Sora grinned, bounding back over to Kairi. "Is that Riku's present?" the blond asked, moving closer to the cake. Kairi nodded, and she and Sora shared a glance, before giggling. Roxas rolled his eyes, and leaned against the counter.

"You can go upstairs, Roxas, just leave your bag in Axel's room." Kairi said and Roxas nodded. He collected his bag and went up the main staircase, heading for Axel's bedroom. As he passed the bathroom door, he heard talking.

"Why didn't you ask Roxas if it was too hot?" Columbine asked. There was the sound of water moving and then Axel's deep voice.

"I _did_, Ma, he said it was fine!" Axel sighed. Columbine would only speak English if she was very mad or concerned, so what Axel must have done must have made her worried.

"Yes, but Axel, you _know_ that you have to take your temperature and if it's-,"

"MA, I did, and I was _fine_ this morning. Okay! No scratched corneas, no holes in my tongue, I was _fine_." Axel snapped, and the sound of water splashing and feet on tiles. There was a sigh from Columbine. "Ma, please, I just want to hang out with Roxas this evening. That's all." Axel's voice was pleading, and it made Roxas frown. Why would Axel want to spend the evening with _him_?

"Fine! But you come straight back here and your Dad'll check you over. Right?"

"Ik zal! Dank u, Mamma." Axel crowed and the doorknob on the bathroom door began to turn. Roxas legged it to Axel's room and threw himself on the floor, looking up at the posters with faked disinterest. He looked up when Axel entered, a towel wrapped around his waist. Axel looked surprised to see him there.

"Er, hey, Roxas." The redhead said, an eyebrow raised.

"Kairi said I could come up. I hope it's okay…?" Roxas asked. Axel shrugged and moved to his closet, one hand holding the towel up on his waist, the other rootling through his clothes. "Are you coming to Riku's party tonight?" Roxas asked. Axel nodded.

"Yeah, Sephiroth asked me to chaperone. I've known Yazoo since elementary school; we were good friends, back in the day."

"_Were_ friends?"

"We kinda drifted apart, like you do. Good guy though." Axel said, yanked a pair of jeans out of his wardrobe along with a red T-shirt. He turned to Roxas. "Close your eyes, Roxie, I don't want your virgin eyes damaged!" he flashed Roxas a wicked smirk and the blond rolled his eyes, before dutifully covering them with his hands.

While the rustling of fabric echoed around the room, Roxas snuck a quick peek; Axel's back was pale and looked soft, except for a smattering of small scratches and scars. Roxas didn't want to know their origin…did he? Axel's ribs were just visible beneath his skin, and his waist and hips were narrower than his shoulders; he had a swimmer's physique. Then, the view was gone as Axel pulled on the t-shirt and Roxas covered his eyes again. A few more rustling sounds and then Axel's voice "You can look now Roxie!"

Roxas obediently moved his hands away from his eyes. Axel have him a crooked grin before a pounding on the door caused him to scowl.

"FUCK OFF RENO!" Axel yelled. From down the hallway, Roxas heard Axel's mother yelling at him for swearing. The door inched open and Axel sighed, turned and landed a reverse round kick on the door, slamming it shut. Roxas stared; he had no idea Axel could do that. Hell, Roxas only knew the names because their Dad was a martial arts film fan. Axel turned to him and frowned. "What?"

"Um… that was… cool…?" Roxas mumbled, still staring.

"Thanks!" Axel said, smiling. He opened the door a bit and sighed when it became apparent that Reno was still there. "What?"

"Dad says if you want food, get your pert little buttocks downstairs now!" Reno said before apparently going. Roxas raised an eyebrow and Axel huffed before glancing over his shoulder to Roxas.

"Coming?" he asked. Roxas scrambled to his feet and followed Axel downstairs. Sora and Kairi were sat at the kitchen table with Naminé, all tucking into plates of pasta. Axel took a seat by Kairi and reached past her for the garlic bread and Roxas meekly sat next to him. They ate in silence, Reno joining them. He offered Roxas garlic bread, and Roxas asked why.

"Axel's having some, so you have to have some, otherwise when you -," Axel kicked Reno under the table and gave his brother a nasty glare. Reno pouted petulantly before sniffing and flicking his hair over his shoulder. For once it was loose, and the small ponytail which normally rested at the base of Reno's head was fanned out down his back. It was only a thin layer of hair, which seemed to naturally wave and curl like the short hair on the top of Reno's head, which stuck up crazily at all angles. He kept shaking his head, sending his long fringe out of his eyes, though it kept falling back.

"We'd better leave in about an hour, so if you guys want to change, I suggest doing it after dinner." Axel murmured. Kairi snorted, covering her mouth with a hand, while her brother shot her a glance.

"Not like you to be so organised, Ax." Kairi said, by way of explanation and Axel shrugged.

"Don't wanna upset the birthday boy, do we?" he replied, giving her a long look. Kairi nodded slowly, a small smile on her lips. The Strife twins felt very left out of the conversation, and also very afraid. Legendary prank wars aside, the Elliot boys were well known for their epic sense of mischief and games. Obviously, Kairi and her brothers had conjured up a plan. And the entire island should be quaking in their boots.

They finished their meals quickly and Sora and Roxas went upstairs to get changed. It was starting to get chilly out, so over his black combats and chequered t-shirt, Roxas pulled on a black hoodie. He found a pair of New Rock boots by Axel's door and pulled them on, hoping Axel wouldn't mind. They were slightly too big, but other than that, okay. He plonked his way downstairs (with the weight of the boots on his feet, he was surprised he could even move) and waited by the front door. Axel and Kairi were both there, along with Naminé who had reappeared out of seemingly nowhere. Kairi was helping her button up her long cream coat, and Axel had shrugged on a large trench coat that swung around his calved. Kairi was wearing her usual attire of all pink, except it was a small strapless dress and she had nothing but a cream bolero over the top.

"Ready to go, Roxy- oh, hey, you found my boots!" Axel crowed, obviously not mad at Roxas for borrowing them. "They look good." The redhead said, nodding firmly and Roxas felt the heat rising in his face.

"T-thanks," he mumbled "I hope you don't mind me borrowing them?" he asked and Axel shook his head.

"Nah, not a big deal. I'm surprised they fit."

"Actually, they're a bit too big for me, but they're comfortable." Roxas pointed out and Axel shrugged. The blond turned as Sora appeared at the foot of the stairs, wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a yellow t-shirt that had 'Kiss Me, I'm An Islander!' on the front along with a big pair of lips. Sora had done something to his hair so instead of it looking like it had exploded out of his scalp, it looked tastefully tousled and spiky, and… was that eyeliner?

"Woah, lookin' hot Sora!" Axel exclaimed and Kairi had the decency to give her brother a swift kick to the shin with her high-heels. Strangely, Axel didn't seem to even flinch, though Kairi gave him a concerned and apologetic look. The front door opened and there was Reno.

"Dudes, I got the pick-up going, let's move, yo!" and they all climbed out the door. While Kairi and Naminé sat in the front with Reno, Sora, Roxas and Axel clambered into the boot of the truck and enjoyed the fresh ocean breeze that swept past them as Reno drove towards the Bai-Lindberg house.

**&-qp -&**

**A/N: **Phew! Chapter 7, done! Hope y'all liked it. Sorry, this took longer than I thought, purely because I'm doing my final exams (includes 2 French essays in 2 hours, and 3 Drama essays in about 2 hours and 20 minutes) and life is busy. Hope I get the next chapter out quicker! See ya! Xxx


	8. VIII i

**&-qp -&**

**The Running Sky**

**By Openly Red**

**Chapter Eight:**

**&-qp -&**

The Bai-Lindberg house was a huge modern structure built on a cliff top. With floor-to-ceiling windows in most of the walls, the house was practically see-through and as Reno drove up the drive, flickers of light from the top floor illuminated the surrounding gardens. The air was already filled with music and the front door was open, with a grumpy looking silver-haired man standing by. Once everyone was out of the pickup, Sora approached him.

"Hi, Loz!" he said cheerfully. The man grunted. Sora kept his smile wide and ushered everyone past him, until they were all inside the house and past the tall man. Sora sidled away from him. "See you later, Loz!"

"No one invited me in…" came the mournful reply, and then they were all up the stairs and in the thick of the party. Riku was standing with a group of admirers flocked around him, but as soon as he spotted Sora and Kairi, he made his way over.

"Glad you guys came!" he said, enveloping Kairi in a hug and grinning at Sora. He was wearing his usual baggy jeans and yellow vest, but he had a white formal shirt pulled over the top, giving the outfit a different feel to it overall. His hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, much like he wore it for school. Before Riku could say anymore, a few more of their friends came over, Olette flinging her arms around Roxas' neck. She was followed by Hayner and Pence, along with Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka. The group spread out so that everyone could fit in a small circle, and they all chattered away happily, Naminé keeping quiet but occasionally voicing her thoughts.

"Do you have any games?" Sora asked suddenly when there was a lull in the conversation. Riku frowned.

"What, like, Cluedo?" he asked and Sora laughed.

"No, Twister or something! Something fun!" the brunet crowed, waving his hands. Riku raised an eyebrow but conceded and went in search of games. As soon as he was gone, Sora whipped around and began whispering furiously to Kairi, leaving everyone very confused.

Riku found Twister and everyone began to play, a maximum of 4 on the sheet at one time. Riku, Sora, Kairi and Tidus decided to go first, but Sora slipped, knocking Riku's legs out from under him, which in turn caused Kairi to have to move her hand and lose her balance, taking Tidus, who had been using her as support, down with her. All four were kicked off the mat, and Roxas, Pence, Olette and Hayner took their place.

Now, it has never been officially recorded, but Roxas was the champion of Twister. Whereas his twin had a habit of slipping, Roxas was able to balance perfectly in weird positions, able to stay perfectly still while those around him crashed to the ground. First to go was Pence, then Hayner, and then it was a show-down between Olette and Roxas, before Olette finally slipped on Left Foot Green and Roxas slowly straightened, grinning at his twin in victory. Sora gave his twin a high-five and Riku gave Roxas a nod.

"Does anyone want a drink?" Sora asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet. While everyone called in orders of Cola and Sprite (aside from Hayner who shouted 'SEX ON THE BEACH!' and promptly got hit over the head by Olette), Riku offered to help Sora and they disappeared into the crowd.

"Hey Roxie, how's it going?" Axel appeared at Roxas' side, a grin plastered on his face. Roxas gave him a small smile back.

"Fine. I won Twister!" he said proudly and Axel chuckled.

"Well done, Rox. Oh-," Axel glanced at a group of girls off to the side. "I better go check on them. See ya!" and with that, he was gone. Sora and Riku appeared soon after, bearing drinks, and after they had all been handed out, the group sat in a circle and just chatted. One of the girls from their year, Yuna, appeared behind Riku's shoulder and giggled. She flicked her shoulder-length brown hair over a shoulder and leaned forward.

"Hey, Riku, wanna play a game?" she asked. Behind her, her friend Paine, a slim girl with ash brown short hair, crossed her arms.


	9. VIII ii

**&-qp -&**

**The Running Sky**

**By Openly Red**

**Chapter Eight: Part II **

**&-qp -&**

**Sora**

**&-qp -&**

I didn't mean for it to turn out like this.

I really didn't.

I'm so sorry!

Roxas, please listen! Please, listen to me! I meant to tell you, I really did, but it… it was never the right time.

Riku and I… it's not been long. Only since September. Only since then, I swear. We talked about it loads, it wasn't like we fell into this. We talked about it, discussed it, mulled it over, weighed the pros and cons. We both wanted this, but we were both so aware of our families as well. You know how Sephiroth can be. We were so worried – who wouldn't mind? Who would? Would be still be respected as just Sora and Riku?

I hadn't planned to be with Riku at that party. We just… somehow went upstairs and ended up where we were. And then you came in, and it all went to Hell. Kairi… she offered to keep an eye out. Riku wasn't so sure but I knew what I wanted. And Riku wasn't hard to convince. We hadn't gotten far, Roxas, not at all and then the door flew open and you were there. Looking like someone had shot you. And then you ran.

I went after you. I pulled on shorts and a t-shirt and ran for you. Axel ran too. He caught you first, tried to get you to stop, but then you shook him off and ran into the night. The way you ran, Roxas… I didn't know you could do that. I didn't know you could run like you were being chased by sharks!

But, I couldn't stop panicking. It was two hours later than Dad appeared, furious. He and Sephiroth had a 'chat'- I don't want to know what was said, to be honest. All I know is, Dad took me home to find you packing. In panicked. I pleaded with you, Roxas, please stay. Please, listen to me, talk to me, _look at me_!! Please, Roxas!

But, you never did.

Do you how that feels, Roxas? To have betrayed your twin so badly that he refuses to look at you. You couldn't even look at me, Roxas, _me,_ who shared a womb with you, a crib, everything and yet…

And yet, for something so trivial, you turned your back on me.

I watched you pack. I tried to get you to stop. I wanted you to stop, to look at me, to talk to me, to let me explain!

You didn't stop.

You left, me crying your name.

I sat by the front door for hours. I waited for you to come back. The man, Vincent, he didn't try to move me. He left me to it. And I sat there, and waited.

Dad came back, Fenrir roaring down the street. He was alone.

By this time, it was nearing 5 am. I went to our room. Lay down on your bed, hugged your pillow. Do you remember, Rox, how people thought it was strange that we used to sleep next to each other, you curled above me, protected me, my twin, my double, the other half of me.

We didn't care. We shared a connection that no one else could break. Our names are anagrams- you always complain that you were named after me, but I- I know that we're supposed to be one person, share one name, one sky, one destiny. It was just fate that split us apart.

I woke up, thinking you were next to me. You weren't. I went about my day. It was Sunday, and Vincent was still around. I guess Dad must have let him sleep on the couch. To be honest, I had _no _idea who Vincent actually was, only that Dad seemed to know him. Dad was working in his bedroom, so Vincent and I sat in silence most of the day, watching TV. Near midday, the intercom buzzed. I answered it.

Riku.

I met him at the door, my hand hovering near his chest, unsure of whether I could touch him. He placed his hand on my arm and pulled me into an embrace. I sighed.

"Riku, what are you doing here?" Dad asked from behind me. I leapt away from Riku, but Dad didn't sound angry, just tired.

"I'm really sorry, Mr Strife," ('Cloud,' Dad reminded him) "but I didn't know where else to go." I blinked at him, confused.

"Oh-?"

"My... my father kicked me out. Didn't want a gay son polluting his house, in his own words," I gaped. "Not like he's ever there anyway..." Riku muttered ruefully. I tugged gently on his hair, a sign of affection, and he looked down at me, smiled softly. Dad shook his head, sighing.

"Do you have any bags, Riku?"

"Outside, in my car... two, though...."

"Go get them. Sora, help me change Roxas' bed,"

"NO!" I surprised myself by shouting. Dad and Riku both looked at me strangely. "N-no, I mean, I'll sleep in Roxas'... Riku can have mine." Dad nodded, seemingly understanding. While Riku and Vincent went to get Riku's bags, Dad and I changed my bed sheets. Just as we smoothed down the duvet, Riku came in and placed his bags at the foot of my bed. The room looked odd, the beds mismatched, but I refused to lose your scent, that still lingered in the room.

"What will happen to the rest of your stuff?" I asked quietly, moving over to perch on the window sill, looking out to the ocean.

"It's all at h-... at my parents house, until I can find somewhere to live," Riku explained. I heard the springs on my bed creak as he sat down.

"Oh," I looked over at him, and he slowly reached out a hand for me. I went to him and curled up next to him. Sighing, he pulled me onto his lap and held me tightly. We sat in silence for ages, basking in each other's presence. You know how Riku and I are. We can sit for hours in silence.

"I'm really sorry," I murmured to him. He hummed, questioning. "I've caused you so much trouble!"

Riku laughed.

I mean, really, laughed. Threw his head back and everything. I couldn't help but stare blankly at him for ages. Why the _hell_ was he laughing?

"Sora," he paused again, gasping for breath. "Sora, you are so beyond worth it, I don't even _care_! My Dad can get stuffed, it's... you. You're Sora," he was calm again, looking at me with a quiet seriousness. "You're enough."

I hugged him, tight. You know how Riku _hates_ hugs, Roxas, but this time he just held onto me too.

We had to go to school the next day. It was hard. We woke up early and Axel came to get us... but, he looked so sad that you weren't here! I felt sorry for him. I caught a ride with Riku. He didn't have anyone to take with him.

Everyone was talking about us, and you, that day. But Riku, he just held my hand and ignored Kadaj, who kept making fun of him. You know what Kadaj can be like, he got _really _mean, but Riku... he just ignored him. And kept a firm hold on my hand. He was strong enough for both of us, Roxas! Isn't that amazing?!

The whole time, the days you were gone, Axel, every time I saw him, looked so lost. He kept looking around, as if expecting you to turn up at any second, but you didn't. Kairi tried to talk to him, but he would always walk away and go sit outside. It's turning cold, Roxas, but Axel would go sit on the grass for all of lunch break and just stare at the sky. I think Kairi thought he was losing his mind.

And, then, Roxas, I heard you were coming back.

I miss you Roxas.

And I just want you home.

**&-qp -&**

**A/N: **I actually had this written up a bit back, I've just been too busy to update.

In answer to a question I got a few chapters ago (I'm sorry, I meant to reply but kept forgetting!) the reason I don't supply the translations for the Dutch is that we're watching the story unfold from Roxas' point-of-view and since Roxas doesn't understand Dutch, neither should the readers! Hope that clears it up!

See y'all soon! Xx


	10. IX

**&-qp -&**

**The Running Sky**

**By Openly Red**

**Chapter Nine:**

**&-qp -& **

The drive back to Axel's home was silent. The street lights highlighted the redhead's face in flashes as they passed, and his face was giving nothing away; lips set in a firm line, and eyes on the road. Roxas watched him quietly, angling his body so he could see him. He knew Axel could feel his eyes boring holes into his skin, but he didn't care; he was waiting for Axel to crack, to tell him something, anything.

"Why are you staring?" Axel finally asked, his jaw clenched.

"You're going to have to tell me something soon," Roxas said simply. "and I'm just waiting for you to crack."

"What do you think I'm going to tell you?"

"I don't know. But it's something. And you're going to tell me soon," and with that, Roxas turned to look back out the window.

**&-qp -&**

**Cloud**

**&-qp -&**

My sons were born when I was still a child myself. I don't regret it, but I admit it was a mistake. I was 14, stupid, and their mother was the same. We thought nothing would happen, why not give sex a try? Well, something did happen, and four months later we found out there were two of them, and five months after that, I was a father to twin boys who needed me.

The original plan was I would be there for the birth, say my good-byes, and then they would be adopted. But when I went to see them, I fell in love. A complete rush of love. Books talk about how mothers feel a surge of utter love and adoration when they look at their children, but they rarely mention the way that fathers feel- like if you blew at us, we'd topple over; how shocked and awed we are the strength of our love and protectiveness towards them.

I chose their names. Sora, meaning 'sky'. They had the perfect combination between mine and their mothers eyes- a perfect sky blue. Roxas, meaning 'little tiger', but also an anagram of Sora. Or Sora is an anagram of Roxas. Roxas was named because he was a fierce boy. At 4, he was always fighting with Sora and on the ferry over to Destiny Islands, almost pushed his brother overboard, and though I had to calm Sora down, I knew I had chosen the right name for Roxas.

He's always been headstrong.

I'd like to think that's why he ran away.

**&-qp -&**

They pulled up in front of Axel's house just as the sun was setting behind the Play island. Axel ushered Roxas ahead of him, grabbing the blond's duffel bag from the back of his car and bringing it up the drive to the house. Before Roxas had even knocked, the door was pulled open by Kairi, who peered shyly up at Roxas from beneath her hair. He was surprised to see her, though he didn't know why – she lived here, afterall.

"Hi Roxas," she said quietly. "Come on in," she pulled the door open wider and Roxas slipped in, Axel following shortly after. The redhead put his arm quickly around his little sister and gave her a quick squeeze, but then let her go. From the kitchen, Axel and Kairi's father called for them, and Roxas. Axel motioned the younger two ahead, placing Roxas' bag against the wall, and then heading up the stairs.

Killian sat alone at the breakfast table, reading a paper with his glasses perched precariously on his nose.

"Hello Roxas, how're you?" he asked without even looking up.

"I'm okay, Mr Elliot," Roxas replied politely. "How about you?"

"Fine, fine," Killian replied, obviously once again distracted by his paper. "Kairi, your mother is delayed at the store; she wanted you to start on dinner,"

"...Okay," Kairi murmured, her voice quiet as she looked nervously at Roxas.

"I'll help," Roxas said, turning to look Kairi in the eye. She blinked at him and then smiled faintly, as though relieved, before motioning for him to get the pot from the cupboard. Together, they set to work quietly, measuring out ingredients and adding them together in the pot that was slowly being heated on the stove. When Kairi's mother eventually came into the kitchen, they were nearly done.

"Ik zei 'beginnen' Kairi, niet om het allemaal door jullie zelf!" she said, stroking her daughter's hair gently. "Hello Roxas, good to see you home again," she turned to him, giving him a warm smile, before shooing them away, finishing making dinner herself. "Is Axel around?"

"He came in with these two, but I haven't seen him since," Killian murmured, glancing up from his paper only briefly. Columbine frowned, looking back over her shoulder to her husband. "I'll go check on him," Killian sighed, folding his paper neatly and heading for the back staircase. Roxas frowned, briefly wondering why Killian felt the need to check on his 21-year-old son, but then shrugged it off.

"Sit down please, Roxas. Kairi, can you set the table, please. For five, only." Columbine broke the silence, turning to her daughter.

"Reno not coming?"

"No, he's working tonight." Kairi shrugged, and got the plates out, setting them out neatly on the table. She also set out glasses and cutlery, all while Roxas sat there awkwardly.

"I thought... I thought my Dad wanted me to come for dinner," Roxas asked, his voice small. Columbine paused from stirring the pot, and turned to look at the boy at the table. She sighed and ran her free hand through her short hair, and left the pot bubbling away while she went to sit by Roxas. Kairi finished adjusting the final knife, and then left the room, pulling the door to behind her.

"Roxas, your father thought it'd be better if you saw Sora and Riku when you're ready to," she said soothingly, shifting her chair slightly to face him. "Now, if you want to, Axel can take you over later, but Cloud thought it best if-,"

"No, it's okay, Mrs Elliot," ('Columbine' Axel's mother gently prodded.) "Maybe tomorrow?"

"We'll see, Roxas," Columbine smiled, and went back to the hob. She began dishing up dinner and called for the rest of her family- Kairi reappeared almost instantly, but it took a few minutes until Killian and Axel reappeared, talking beneath their breath. "Axel, why don't you sit in Reno's usual place, Roxas can sit next to you." The skinny redhead nodded, and slumped into the seat next to Roxas, frowning slightly.

"... You okay?" Roxas asked quietly, slightly concerned for his... friend, was it?

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Axel gave him a very fake smile. "Just thinking is all! No worries, Roxie!" Roxas gave a weak smile back and didn't press the matter – Axel seemed a bit... off, but the blond wasn't going to force the issue.

Columbine and Killian passed out the dishes of dinner, and they began to eat quite sedately. The conversation only passed between Columbine and Killian, who were discussing the recent Atlantica election – King Triton had recently hinted that he wanted Sebastian Alimasag to be the next Prime Minister, after Ursula Pugita resigned (or, more likely, was fired). His seven daughters had spent most of their time refusing to comment on the election, and also the suspected engagement of the youngest daughter, Princess Ariel, to Prince Eric of Radiant Garden.

Axel poked at his food with his fork, but only took a few bites. He kept looking over to the door, and to the window, avoiding Roxas' gaze if he could. Kairi ate in silence as well, occasionally adding something to her parents' conversation, but she didn't try to engage Roxas or Axel in a discussion. When they were all finished, Columbine shooed them away, insisting that she would clean up, and would they please, _please_, not play videogames really loudly 'til 3 in the morning.

As soon as they were out in the foyer, Axel turned to Roxas.

"I should probably head back to my flat. Do you want me to pick anything up from your Dad's for tomorrow?" he asked, his thumb hooked in his jeans pockets, trying to look casual but his tense shoulders betraying him.

"Uhm... No, thanks, Axel." Roxas said, quickly searching for anything he wanted. _My brother, maybe?_ He thought, but it wasn't really up to Axel to bring Sora to him – he had to go to Sora, instead. But, maybe... "Axel... do you think I could come with you?"

"... Huh?" the redhead blinked slowly.

"Stay with you, I mean. I... I only ever stay here with Sora, and I don't know Kairi that well, and I like your parents, but I-,"

"Woah, hold up, Roxie. Let me go ask, okay?" Axel said, heading back for the kitchen. Roxas nodded to no one. He didn't quite know why he had made this spur of the moment decision to ask Axel to stay with him, but he didn't want to be in this big house without Sora. The blond scuffed his shoes against the polished wood of the foyer, waiting for Axel to come back. Soon enough, the redhead appeared, his lips pursed and pulled to the side of his face, as though he was anxious about something. "You can come back to mine, it's alright. And your dad cleared it."

"You spoke to my dad?" Roxas perked up, looking up into Axel's eyes. The green-eyed man wasn't looking at him.

"My mum did. He said it's fine. Come on," the redhead grabbed Roxas' holdall from where it had been pushed against the wall. Roxas followed after him, almost meekly, as Axel put his holdall back in the boot and they climbed in the front. Roxas strapped himself in as Axel did the same, and then watched carefully as Axel turned on the engine, put the car in first gear, raised the clutch and took off the handbrake. The car began moving slowly, and gained speed as they went on the road, and as Axel shifted through the gears.

Roxas stayed quiet, watching as the streetlights flashed by, illuminating Axel's face for a second and then casting it in shadow again. Soon, they were pulling into the small driveway for Axel's apartment building. Though it was only up the road from Roxas', it was slightly more upper class, and newer. Roxas couldn't help but feel a bit jealous about that – his dad worked so hard for very little, and they had been in the same apartment since they had moved to Destiny Islands – how did a 21-year-old and his 24-year-old brother manage to afford such a nice place? But then Roxas realised maybe their parents help a little, whereas Cloud had refused any help from his parents when it had been offered.

He took his holdall off Axel this time, feeling bad for making the redhead carry it all the time. Axel shrugged and buzzed in a code to let them into the apartment building. There was a lift in the foyer, rather than the stairs that Sora and Roxas took to and from their apartment daily. Axel hit the fifth floor button once Roxas was securely in the lift, and when the doors binged open, he led the way out. The hallway was brightly lit and painted a clean cream colour, unlike the slightly more dingy olive green hallways of Roxas' building. Axel took a bunch of keys out of his pocket and unlocked a door labelled '503', letting them both in.

Axel flicked on the main light before turning to lock the door behind them. The light revealed a modern and stylish living room, complete with white leather sofas and a few gaming consoles scattered on the floor, connected to the flat screen TV that rested by the French windows overlooking the sea in the distance. In the corner was a small kitchen, separated from the living room by a breakfast bar. The kitchen was white and pieces of grey marble and very clean looking, with maybe a few unwashed glasses and plates on the draining board by the stainless steel sink.

"My room is this way... Reno'll be back later, probably when you're asleep."

"Oh... alright." Roxas supposed he'd sleep on the couch. He put his bag down and looked at the two sofas – neither looked like he'd be able to sleep on them, but he was a guest and so-,

"What're you doing?" Axel asked, blinking slowly again.

"Oh, uhm... I'm sleeping on the couch, right?"

"... Well, uh, you could do, but, I mean, my bed is big enough for, like, three people, so..."

Sleep? In Axel's bed? Glancing once again at the couch, Roxas gave a mental sigh and picked up his bag again. Axel smiled shyly and pushed a stray lock of hair behind his ear, before leading the way, flicking on lights as he went. One door off to the left of the hallway was shut and another of the right was partially ajar. With a quick glance, Roxas ascertained that the partially ajar door led to the bathroom, so the shut one must be Reno's room. Axel's room was at the end of the hallway, and he led Roxas in without much fuss, though he shut the door behind them, after the light had been turned on.

Axel's room was much like his one at his parents' house – lots of orange and red, with splashes of white and black to even it out. His bed was low to the ground, and pushed against the various walls were a wardrobe, a chest of drawers, a desk (with lots of digital art equipment piled up next to a computer) and a book case that had a wheelie chair pushed against it. It looked lived in, and very much _Axel_.

"Put your stuff down anywhere. I'm gonna get changed." Axel grabbed some clothes that were draped across the back of the wheelie chair, and left the room, shutting the door behind him. Roxas blinked and put his things next to the desk, unzipping the back and rootling through it for his pyjamas. He found them, and quickly changed into the baggy grey t-shirt and loose boxer shorts. He was fishing out his toothbrush when Axel reappeared, wearing long grey tracksuit trousers, and no top. Roxas felt his face heat up quickly, but darted for the bathroom before Axel could see him. In the hallway he noticed that the majority of the lights had been turned off, except for the one in the bathroom, which illuminated the hallway adequately enough, that he didn't walk into a wall. The blond brushed his teeth and splashed his face with cool water before returning to Axel's room, pushing the door shut behind him.

Axel was reclining in bed, flicking through a tattered book. Roxas, suddenly nervous (for no apparent reason), dropped on the bed and pulled the duvet over his legs.

"What's the book about?"

"It's Dracula. Y'know, the book by Bram Stoker? Zexion recommended it."

"Oh..."

"He's trying to convince anyone who'll listen that 'Twilight isn't Literature', whatever that means. I've never even heard of Twilight." Axel shook his head, sending his red hair all over his face. Roxas thought back to Olette squealing about some guy who apparently sparkled in sunlight. What was his name? Edward? Edmond? Something like that, anyway!

"I think that movie we saw was called 'Twilight'. Y'know 'Skin of a Killer!'? That film," Roxas pointed out, connecting the two things together.

"Oh. That makes sense," Axel frowned for a second and then shook his head. "Anyway, we should probably sleep. We have a lot going on tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" The next day was a Sunday. There was nothing to do tomorrow.

"Yup. Lots of things to do, Roxie." Axel was back to the playful teasing tone he usually spoke in, rather than how he had sounded earlier – like he was closed off. Roxas preferred being teased, to be honest. Axel reached over Roxas to turn off his bedside light, before reaching back to his own. "Lights off Roxie!" and with a click, they were plunged into darkness.

Rustling next to him signalled to Roxas that Axel was getting comfortable, and he might as well do the same. He sighed as he burrowed into the pillow and pulled the duvet up to his neck. He and Sora always slept as bundled up as possible, it made them feel safer. And sleeping in the same room helped with that as well.

Roxas had hated it at his grandparents, spending each night alone without another person's breathing to lull him to sleep. He was used to hearing Sora taking deep and even breaths, which would in turn cause his own breathing to reflect the same pattern, allowing him to drift off seemingly. Beside him, now, Axel shifted again.

"Hope this isn't too awkward, Roxie..." Axel mumbled in the darkness. Roxas rolled onto his side, blinking at the dark shape that was Axel.

"It's fine," he mumbled, thinking that it actually was okay. He and Axel had become sort of friends. They saw each other every day, after all, whether it be driving to school, at registration (where Mr Saix seemed to have a sort of rapport with Axel), or after school. "I... I actually like having someone to sleep with..." Axel snorted. "N-not like that! Just, y'know, someone in the same room, that's all,"

"Well, I'm happy to be the other person in the room, Roxie," Roxas could tell that the redhead was smiling. "Now get some sleep."

"Yes, sir!"

**&-qp -&**

Author's Note:

Hi everyone! Sorry for the super-long break in writing, I've been making my way through my first year at University! It's been very hectic, but I've loved most of it (some down points, but oh well!) and can't wait 'til September to begin my second year!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and please remember to feed the writer reviews on your way out! ~ OR


	11. X

**&-qp -&**

**The Running Sky**

**By Openly Red**

**Chapter Ten:**

**&-qp -& **

Roxas learned, that night, that Axel kicked in his sleep. And talked. And ground his teeth. And breathed loudly. And, most importantly, stole the bed covers.

By the time he woke up the next morning, blinking the sleep from his eyes, Roxas was exhausted. He had spent most of the night trying to avoid Axel's long legs, and then the rest of it half-heartedly wrestling the duvet off the redhead (who slept through the whole thing). One thing was for sure, Axel was not an easy bed partner. With a whimper, Roxas turned to look at the clock. It shone numbers that indicated it was mid afternoon.

Groaning quietly, Roxas rolled off the bed and onto the floor. He straightened, and glanced over at Axel, who was sprawled in a vague starfish position with his mouth hanging open. With a small smile to himself, which he quickly wiped off his face, Roxas headed for the kitchen. And for the coffee.

As he entered, he looked around the living room. A black suit jacket was thrown over the back of the sofa, and a suitcase was near the front door. Those were the only signs that Reno had returned home the previous night.

Roxas ran a hand through his hair, making it worse, and walked around the breakfast bar. The coffee machine was shiny, stainless steel, and had far too many buttons for its own good. When the blond finally located a mug, he placed it under the machine and stared. For a very long time.

Five minutes later, and the machine had still not revealed its secrets. Roxas was nearly at the point of hitting the machine to see if physical violence inspired it, but (thankfully) Reno appeared. In his boxers, no less. The lanky redhead glanced up briefly, and then did a double-take.

Then, he laughed like a hyena.

Roxas was startled, his eyes widening as his hand froze mid-button pressing. A door down the hallway banged against the wall as it was thrown open, and Axel appeared, rubbing his eyes.

"What the _fuck_, Reno?" the other redhead grumbled, scrunching his nose up in distaste. Reno was still cackling, and Roxas was still frozen, confused, finger poised to press the button that may finally give him coffee. Reno was still cackling.

"You finally got him in bed, then?" he crowed, clutching at his stomach. Roxas remained frozen, but Axel nearly launched himself at his brother. His face flushed a furious red, and he look ready to punch Reno, who had stopped laughing. "What, dude, you _still _haven't told him?"

"... Told me what?" Roxas murmured, startlingly himself out of his daze. His hand relaxed and fell down to rest beside him.

"Reno," there was a warning tone to Axel's voice, as if Axel was telling him to keep his big mouth shut before it got him into trouble (at least, that's what that voice meant when Roxas used it with Sora).

The lanky redhead apparently took no heed, however, and turned to Roxas with a somewhat malicious grin on his face. Roxas was still a little bit shocked, but now slightly fearful as Reno's eyes grlinted, like a predator eyeing its prey.

"Axel has a _thing_ for you, Roxas," Reno said quietly. Roxas frowned. 'A thing'? Well that wasn't very specific.

"Reno, either you shut your mouth or I swear to God, I will-," Axel was edging closer to his brother, his whole body tense, and his hands clenching to fists at his sides.

"Axel," Roxas was surprised to hear his own voice in the kitchen. The brothers look at him, Axel flushing a dark red, Reno with a smug grin on his face. "It's fine," the blond said, feeling a small smile pass across his lips. He glanced at Reno, couldn't find anything to say, and then gave up on the coffee situation. He didn't feel the need for it anymore. Placing the mug back on the counter, he slipped past Reno and went back down the hall. Behind him were furious whisperings.

The blond entered Axel's room with a sigh, and nudged the door shut behind him. He shook his head and found that his eyes felt heavy. Maybe he needed more sleep? He certainly didn't get much last night. And that dull thudding in his head was surely the onset of a headache. He barely noticed when Axel slipped in behind him, his cheeks flushed red in frustration.

"I'm sorry about that, Reno-," the redhead started, moving towards Roxas as if to comfort him.

"Axel, really, it's... it's fine," the teenager didn't quite know what to say. It was not something he suspected, it didn't even occur to him that Axel would feel that way, really. But then a thought wormed its way into his mind... "Was Reno being honest?" he asked, once he was sure that Axel had kicked the bedroom door shut behind him. The other man stared at him blankly for a few seconds, and then looked away, his eyes flicking briefly back to the door.

"P-possibly," he muttered, moving towards his desk, beginning to sort through papers. Roxas thought that maybe when Axel was nervous, he had to keep his hands busy.

"Axel," Roxas said quietly, his voice low and soft with an aim to soothe. The redhead didn't stop, though he glanced quickly at Roxas, and then looked back down to his papers. "I'm... flattered, Axel, I really am," Axel's shoulders tensed. "But I don't think anything could happen, r-right now," Roxas stumbled over those words. He didn't know why he felt the need to add that in there. He felt the need to elaborate. "There's too much going on, and I-,"

"Roxas," the redhead cut him off, and Roxas' mouth snapped shut of its own accord. Axel looked over his shoulder for a second, then tapped the stack of papers once against the desk and straightened up. He turned around and studied the blond boy carefully. "I know. I didn't say anything because I wasn't expecting anything. I know you have a lot going on right now, so I thought it would be unfair to tell you this, just to add another thing." He crossed his arms over his chest and for a second, Roxas could see that Axel was a very attractive man. But it vanished just as quickly. Axel began to drum his fingers on his upper arms, chewing at the inside of his mouth with a concerned look on his face.

Roxas himself felt a deep frown set into his face. He looked out the window in an attempt to calm himself down. It was sunny – it always was on Destiny Islands. The winter months made no difference to the everlasting sun that shone on in the sky; only the chilled breeze clued the inhabitants of the four islands that Christmas was on its way.

He nearly jumped a foot in the air when Axel touched his shoulder. He blond whirled around, finding himself within inches of Axel's face.

"Don't... think too hard, Roxie," Axel said, his eyes searching Roxas' intently. "No dating, okay? I get that. Friends, though." The redhead said, seemingly compromising. Roxas frowned, chewing his bottom lip for a second before darting upwards and placing a small kiss on Axel's cheek.

"Yeah, no dating," he said, slipping out underneath Axel's arm before the older man could react. He went over to his holdall and began rummaging through it. "So, can we visit Dad and Sora today?" he asked, fishing out a clean pair of boxers.

"We... we can do that," Axel said, turning around slowly as though dazed. "But... what do you need to know?" he asked, thin eyebrows drawing together in a frown. Roxas paused, a red t-shirt dangling precariously from the tips of his fingers. He frowned himself, blinking a few times before saying slowly,

"I think... I've been running away from the question I really want to ask..." he looked over his shoulder at Axel with wide eyes. "What's going to happen to me now?"

**&-qp -& **

They went round to Cloud's apartment building after having a quick lunch (toast and coffee). Reno had been nowhere in sight when they had left, but Axel mentioned that he believe Reno had high-tailed it to their parents, because their mother didn't believe in violence and therefore, the kids were not allowed to hit each other. He looked thoroughly disappointed as he said this.

They walked the few yards it took for them to reach the apartment building. Roxas fished his keys out of his messenger bag, and slid them into the lock, twisting them until the door clipped open. He held it open for Axel, gave a small smile to the security guard at what could barely be counted as a lobby in this building, and then began hiking up the stairs.

By the time they arrived at the right floor, Roxas' apartment door was propped open by the foot of Vincent Valentine, who was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed. His black hair was 'held' back by its usual tie, strands falling free and framing his face, obscuring his eyes until you got really close.

"Welcome home, Roxas," he intoned in a quiet voice, before jerking his foot slightly in order to jog the door open. Roxas eyed him suspiciously, but passed through, looking around him. Sora was nowhere to be seen, though when Roxas went to look over in the kitchen, he found himself getting a close-up view of his Dad's t-shirt. Cloud had thrown his arms around his son, and hugged him tight, pressing his face to the blond spikes that matched his own.

"God, I missed you Roxas," his father muttered, and Roxas raised his hands to grip at the back of his Dad's t-shirt, nodding to show his agreement but unable to say the words. They pulled away from each other, Cloud keeping a hand on his son's shoulder, as if touching him would hold him in place. "Don't you EVER fucking do that again, okay?" he said, his fingers digging into Roxas' joint briefly. Roxas nodded, eyes downcast, sorry for his sudden departure and lack of explanation. Cloud nodded next to him, and then moved forward to shake Axel's hand and clap him on the upper arm. "Thanks, Axel," he said and Axel murmured "Its cool, Mr Strife,".

"W-where's Sora?" Roxas asked, raising his eyes and looking around for his twin.

"He's just down the street with Riku, Rox. Shall I get him to come back home?" His father asked and Roxas nodded slowly, nerves creeping up on him. Cloud disappeared back into the kitchen and the click of the phone being lifted from its cradle told Roxas that he was going to phone his brother.

"I'll be heading out, then," Vincent said, inclining his head solemnly. "I'll see you later, Axel," the redhead nodded in agreement, and closed the door after Vincent had disappeared into the hallway.

"You're working tonight?" Roxas asked, feeling his throat getting tighter. He didn't know why he was so nervous about seeing Sora, his own brother, and why he didn't quite want Axel to leave him.

"Yeah," Axel said, nodding. He rubbed a hand under his eyes, brushing the tattoos that rested there with his thumb and index finger. "Start at 10. I'll be off at 3 though," he added, raising his head and giving Roxas a small smile.

"Isn't that... rough? Its Monday tomorrow, school, and you have to come by and pick us..." the teenager hesitated – would he still be in the morning school runs now? "- up and then have lectures yourself?"

"Not really," Axel said, shrugging one shoulder. "I don't tend to sleep much anyway," Roxas snorted involuntarily after that, causing Axel to raise an eyebrow.

"Sorry, its just... last night, you were kicking me, and stealing covers, and snoring, and well, you were asleep!" Roxas explained, gesturing with his hands to show Axel's actions.

"Oh..." the redhead, said, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, well, I sleep better when there's someone else in the bed with me," he explained, meeting Roxas' eyes with a fierce green gaze. Roxas looked away first, feeling his face getting hotter, but then Cloud reappeared.

"Your brother's on his way, he shouldn't be long," he said, moving to sit down in his usual spot. Roxas followed him and took his usual space on the two-seater sofa, opposite his father. Axel took the other armchair. They sat basically in silence, unsure of what to say. Axel pulled out his cell phone and started tapping out a text message, and then the door clicked open. Roxas stood and turned, his breath catching in his throat.

Sora looked utterly disinterested. It looked like he'd barely slept all week, and his hair was (nearly) limp. He looked up for a second as he held the door open for Riku and then looked up again, watching Roxas carefully. The blond twin moved closer to his brother, and gingerly held open his arms, unconsciously signalling to his brother. Sora shot into the embrace, his arms going tightly around Roxas' back while he whispered furiously into his shoulder.

"Never, ever, **ever** fucking do that again, Rox, **never** again!" Sora fisted his hands in the back of Roxas's t-shirt, his knuckles going white with the strain he held on with. Roxas held on as well, just as tight, nodding, and apologising repeatedly. After a moment or two longer, they stepped apart. And then Sora punched his twin.

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT," he shouted, though Roxas was too dazed from the fist to his jaw to really notice. "DO YOU HAVE _ANY_ IDEA HOW HORRIFIC IT IS TO WATCH YOUR TWIN FUCKING _LEAVE_ YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT?" the blond glanced up at his twin to find that Riku had an arm hooked around Sora's chest, holding him back, and his father was placing himself between the boys. Roxas felt a hand touch his shoulder and look around to see Axel there, his face lined with concern and anger. Axel stood up, his face set and Roxas shook his head – he could understand why Sora was upset, and why he had reacted like that. He wasn't one for keeping his emotions to himself.

"I'm sorry," Roxas said, reaching for his twin. Sora stared him down, his jaw set, and Roxas dropped his arm. "It shocked me... _Scared_ me. I am so, _so_ sorry, Sora," he said, keeping his gaze locked with his twins, trying to get the sincerity of his words to radiate through his eyes. Sora's jaw unclenched slightly, though his face remained set, and he nodded sharply, before stalking away to his and Roxas' bedroom. Riku paused awkwardly as he made to follow his boyfriend.

"Its good to have you home, Roxas," he murmured, his voice deep and low, and then he was away, shutting the door to the twins bedroom lightly behind him.

"OPEN!" Cloud shouted and the doorknob clicked and the door was pulled open slightly, enough to let a crack of light shine through. The boys' father seemed pleased with it. He turned back to his other son and the accompanying redhead, and frowned. "We should really sort out whats going to happen next, Roxas,"

"A-aren't I moving back?" Roxas asked, his eyes growing wide. His father smiled and patted his shoulder gently.

"Not right away, no. I feel bad for Riku, he got kicked out of his own home, I don't think his mother knows what's happened yet, and he really doesn't have anywhere else to go. You, on the other hand..." Cloud looked away, his jaw tensing, before looking back and holding his son's gaze fiercely. "I love you, Roxas. You're my son, I am not stopping you from moving back home because I don't love you. But I have Riku to think about, and he needs Sora right now more than he'll admit," he explained, and Roxas nodded slowly, understanding. "I'll speak to Axel's parents, okay. I don't think they'll mind if you live with them until we can get Riku settled elsewhere. You get on okay with Kairi, right?" Cloud asked, a note of desperation passing through his voice.

"I do, Dad," Roxas asked, though truthfully, he couldn't remember having a direct one-to-one conversation with Kairi. They always seemed to talk when involved in a conversation with the group. "I'll be fine," he added and the older mans face relaxed into a small smile.

"I know," Cloud said, smiling. He stepped away, looking almost awkward for a second, before smiling again. "I'll have to phone Columbine and Killian, but if it's okay with Axel, you could stay with him another night?" he said, posing the question to Axel who gave a one-shouldered shrug.

"Sure, it's cool with me," he said, not looking at Roxas. Cloud nodded, and his shoulders relaxed slightly, showing his relief.

"Great!" the blond man said, and he looked once more at Roxas. "You'll be home soon, Roxas, I promise,"

"I know, Dad," the teen said, nodding. Cloud gave him a smile and father and son said their goodbyes. Roxas and Axel left without having seen Riku and Sora, but not feeling weighed down by it. They went back to Axel's building, but didn't go inside.

"Do you want to go to dinner with some friends of mine? I have a few hours 'til work, and..." Axel said, and Roxas shrugged.

"Sure, why not?" he replied, giving a small smile. "Probably beats your cooking anyway!" Axel poked him on the shoulder with a grin, and they found their way to the garage underneath the building. With both of the safely secured into their seats, Axel started the car and drove them off, heading towards the coast. Roxas wound down the window and felt the sea breeze rush through his hair. The sun was hovering over the play island, illuminating the ocean to a golden pink. It felt... peaceful.

They arrived at the Old Warehouse district, which had recently be revamped into a trendy boulevard with restaurants and bars lining the water. Axel found a place to park near the main walk, and they exited the car, Axel locking it carefully, before making their way towards one of the bigger Warehouses, which had 'Tiana's Place' emblazoned across the front of it.

Axel held the door open for the blond teenager, and Roxas slipped in shyly, a bit worried he was underdressed for this place. It had been the talk of the islands for a while, a restaurant serving traditional Island cuisine, run by Tiana and her husband, Prince Naveen of Maledonia. It seemed pretty upmarket, but looking around, Roxas guessed the upmarket crowd didn't come in until later. A lot of the patrons were dressed in jeans and t-shirts, much like Axel was. Axel spoke to the maitre d' while Roxas looked around, and then they were whisked away between tables to one of the larger booths.

"Hey, Axel!" one of the men sitting there crowed when they were stationary. He was in the centre of the back of the booth, trapped on either side by two people. He was blond with a sort of mullet, and Roxas realised with shock that he was the DJ from the party on the play island a few months ago.

"Demyx," Axel greeted, smiling. "This is Roxas, guys," he said, introducing Roxas to the table. "Sit, Rox," he prodded and Roxas collapsed into the booth next to a pink-haired man. His hair was swept back into a loose sort of bun with tendrils falling out. He surveyed Roxas for a moment and then smiled. It was a vicious sort of smile, not exactly the most welcoming or friendliest, but Roxas had been given no reason to suspect this guy of being anything other than a friend of Axel's.

"You were at the Hallowe'en party, weren't you?" he asked, his eyes gleaming. Roxas nodded, eyes wide. The pink-haired man offered a hand and Roxas shook it reluctantly. "Marluxia, darling. You may remember me as the Geisha of the evening," When Axel slid into a seat opposite Roxas, Marluxia rounded on him, "Where have you been secreting this one away, Axel? He's too precious for words," the pink-haired man drawled, a slow smile creeping across his face, and the blond teenager felt his face flush.

"Leave him alone, Marly," Axel said, frowning and pouring himself a glass of water from the jug on the table.

"So, Roxas," Demyx asked, and Roxas looked over. The other blond was practically bouncing in his seat, excitement barely contained. "You go to Destiny High, right?" he asked, and Roxas nodded slowly. Demyx grinned. "Y'know, you look pretty similar to a Junior there as well..." he frowned, as though thinking really hard, "Whats his name...? Short kid, brown hair, blue eyes, hangs around with a silver-haired ki-,"

"Thats my twin brother, Sora," Roxas cut Demyx off, wanting to end the question before it got into the discussion of Riku.

"Twins, eh?" Demyx said, and his grin widened. "Thats so cool! Are you guys, like, psychic and stuff?"

"Uh... n-no, not really..." Roxas said, blinking. "I can tell if Sora's upset or angry and stuff, but I can't read his mind or whatever..."

"Thats so cool!" the other blond crowed, very nearly bouncing off his seat. The girl next to him lay a firm hand on his shoulder and practically held him down.

"Demyx is rather excitable," she drawled, flicking her white-blond hair. She met Roxas' gaze with piercing blue eyes where he sat down from her and smiled a cool smile. "I'm Larxene," she said and Roxas nodded, vaguely recognising her from the Hallowe'en party. She gestured across to the other girl, who had ash-brown hair styled into a quiff. "This is Paine," and then she gestured to the other boy who Roxas recognised with a jerk. "I'm sure you remember Zexion, right?"

"Hello, Roxas," the slate-haired man said in a low voice. Roxas felt a little cold with shock.

"Hey," he said quietly, feeling as though his breath had been knocked out of him. Before he could add anything further though, a woman with carefully coiffed black hair and large almond eyes appeared at the gap in the booth.

"Hey y'all!" She said, reaching into her white apron to pull out a pad and pen. "So what'll y'all be having?" she asked, pen poised at the ready.

"Hey Tiana!" Demyx greeted excitedly. Then he laughed. "Should it be 'Your Highness' now?" he teased, and Tiana placed her hands on her hips, a small smile creeping on to her face.

"Oh hush up, Demyx," she replied, "And its 'Your Grace', actually," she corrected him and Demyx grinned again. "Now, orders, if you please!" She returned to her original position. One by one, they ordered their meals, Roxas and Axel making split-second decisions after snatching menus from the table top. Larxene ordered something with only vegetables, Demyx ordered enough caffeine and sugar to kill an elephant, and the others ordered fairly typical meals. With a look of concentration on her face, Tiana recited their order back to them, and when they confirmed it, she nodded once, smiled, and slipped away.

They fell naturally into conversational groups, though Roxas seemed to really only speak to Axel throughout the meal. He tried to avoid Zexion's gaze, but occasionally met his eyes, and Zexion would give a small smile. By the end of the meal, Roxas felt thoroughly exhausted, and he barely paid attention when Axel ushered him to the car after paying.

"I'll drop you at mine, Roxie, and you can rest, while I go to work," Axel explained and Roxas nearly pointed out how much like a married couple it made them sound, but he felt himself dozing and drifted in and out of sleep while Axel drove, the streetlights passing over his face every few seconds.

Axel poked and prodded him into the elevator when they got to his building, and propped the blond teenager up against a wall when he had to open the flat's main door. With a sigh, Axel swept Roxas up and carried him through the flat, laying him gently on the bed. Axel changed and when he went back to check up on the blond, Roxas had wormed his way under the duvet and was sound asleep, fully-dressed. With a fond smile, Axel clicked the light off.

"Night, Roxie," he said, and he pulled the door too.

**&-qp -& &-qp -& **

**A/N: **God, I'm so sorry this took forever! Real life caught up with me, I ran out of ideas, I had a writer's block but NOW, aha, NOW, I have chapter plans and a goal and it is within reach and YAY. If I stick to my current plans, TRS will have 22 chapters, and I hope I will be able to finish it over the summer!

Please review~!

- **OR**


	12. XI

**&-qp -&**

**The Running Sky**

**By Openly Red**

**Chapter Eleven:**

**&-qp -& **

Axel woke Roxas up early for school the next day. Apparently he hadn't meant to, but his elbow in Roxas' ribs had done a pretty good job of waking the blond teenager up, and Roxas hadn't really felt like going back to sleep afterwards. So while Axel dozed, Roxas had a shower, brushed his teeth, and tugged hopelessly at his hair that repelled the waters attempted to flatten it, and stood up in messy spikes. He gave up with a groan and got dressed, tugging on his t-shirt roughly.

Axel had shown him how to work the coffee machine yesterday, so when the blond hit the kitchen, he didn't hesitate to push the right buttons to give him coffee. He managed to locate some cereal, and the milk, and he ate while he listened out for Axel to wake up. He looked around, studying the pictures on the walls of the apartment. There were a few of Axel and Reno as children, playing on the beach, grinning with baby Kairi in their arms, and then stuffy and formal photos from their boarding school, Black Pearl Academy. Axel looked hilarious in the high-necked white shirt with black ribbon around the neck, and formal black blazer, while Reno managed to pull off the uniform with a sort of casual cool. It was amusing to look at. When Roxas had finished, and placed everything in the dishwasher, he made his way back to Axel's room, knocking before entering.

Axel was awake, albeit just, propped up against the headboard and blinking dazedly. He frowned at Roxas, opened his mouth, and then closed it again. He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, catching his fingers on tangles in the fiery red locks that had appeared overnight.

"I," Axel's voice cracked, and he took a moment to clear his throat. "I don't have any cuts on my face, do I?" he asked, blinking at Roxas. The blond frowned, and then shook his head. What a weird question to ask. "Awesome..." the redhead trailed off dazedly. He looked at Roxas for a second or two, then blinked and pushed the duvet off himself. "I'm going for a shower..." he muttered, rolling off the bed and padding out of the room, leaving Roxas blinking after him. The blond shook his head, and began picking things up from around the room, shoving them in his hold-all. As he shoved the last balled-up t-shirt in, Axel padded in, his hair still dripping wet, and the towel slung around his waist. Rxoas couldn't stop his face from flushing red, and without saying anything, he left the room quickly, dragging the half-zipped hold-all behind him.

The blond teenager watched the News with little attention, making a cup of coffee and some plain buttered toast for Axel, waiting for the redhead to appear, which he did about 10 minutes later. His hair was scraped back in a low ponytail and perched on his nose were the black thick-rimmed glasses from before. He still looked very sleepy and grunted in appreciation when Roxas pointed to the toast on the counter. After practically inhaling the toast and asking Roxas how long the coffee had been standing, and then drinking that, Axel jerked his head towards the door and they left, dumping Roxas' holdall in the boot of the car.

They didn't stop to pick up Sora – Roxas assumed he was driving in with Riku. They continued straight to the campus, and Axel pulled into his usual parking space with his usual lack of finesse. Roxas winced when the wing mirror of the car next to them _just_ missed theirs. Roxas was going to have to be a contortionist to get out. With a sigh, he pushed the door open as far as it would go without hitting the car next door, and pushed his body out, legs first and carefully manoeuvring his body and head through. He snatched up his bag as his back clicked in protest and shut the door, glaring at Axel over the roof of the car.

"You need to work on your parking." He said and Axel cracked him a grin.

"Talk to me when you drive, Roxie," he said teasingly, joining Roxas at the back of the car. They carefully navigated their way through the car park until they reached the campus pavement. There was an awkward moment where they just looked blankly at each other, and then Axel smiled and patted Roxas on the shoulder.

"See you in homeroom, Rox," he said before turning on his heel and heading into the High School building. Roxas nodded, having momentarily forgotten that the redhead was his homeroom prefect, and then he shook his head and wound his way round the groups of students huddled outside in clusters to the side doors closest to his homeroom.

The second he stepped into the door, the old fire door creaking ominously, the whole room fell silent. Roxas surveyed his fellow classmates, and ducked his head down, looking at the ground as he made his way to the back of the room where Olette, Pence and Hayner were waiting. As he reached the usual spot, Olette stood up and gave him a hug, Hayner clapped him awkwardly on the shoulder and Pence gave a small smile. Roxas sat down heavily and dropped his bag onto the floor, running a hand through his hair.

Axel entered the room with the register with Saix hot on his heels. The redhead had barely managed to slap the slim red book down before the scarred man had snatched it up again. He flicked to the right page and began to call out the names, bending over his desk and ticking off names as he went down. He paused over Roxas' name.

"Roxas Strife," the blue-haired man called and Roxas could see the smirk spread across his face from the back of the room as he called out the affirmative. "Glad you could grace us with your presence, Roxas," came the drawling reply and Roxas felt his face flush. Axel raised an eyebrow in his direction and then went back to following Saix's hand down the register. Saix finished the last tick with a flourish and gave his usual inspirational message for the day.

"Don't injure yourselves today, children," he said solemnly (creeping a few students out) and then he left the room with a curt nod. Axel picked up the register, used it to salute to Roxas and then left the room as well, leaving the class to get their things together and head off to their first class of the day.

**qpqpqp**

Roxas' last class of the day was his compulsory music class. Though he wouldn't get a grade for the class at the end of the year, the school made a point of making sure every student did an Arts class if they were academically-orientated, or a sport class if they were Arts-orientated to ensure that the students were 'well-rounded'.

The teacher, who introduced herself in the first class of the year as "Giselle" in a high sing song voice, flitted into the class a few minutes late. She gasped overdramatically and fluttered a hand near her chest.

"Deary me, students, I am _so very sorry_ for my lateness!" she gave them all a sickly sweet smile. She adjusted her light pink skirt, and folded her hands neatly in front of her, though there was nothing supporting them. "Today, we shall be learning about..." Roxas tuned out at that point. He glanced around the room at his fellow students – a few were dozing off, some of the girls (and at least two of the boys) were furiously scribbling down notes, and the rest were doing the same as Roxas, staring at various points around the room.

Giselle rambled on for an hour. She sang a few times, high-pitched and pretty, and then the end of class bell rang, and students scrambled to wake up, gather their wits and collect their things. Roxas was one of the first out the door, glancing down the corridor to the Art classroom where Riku, Kairi and Naminé were. The door was still firmly shut. Sora would be in the library, 'studying' or snoozing during his Free period. Roxas had no choice but to wait by the lockers near the Art room, hoping his three friends would be released shortly.

"Hey, blondie," came a sneering voice from down the hallway. Roxas turned his head and instantly wanted to slam his head against the locker behind him. The school bully, Seifer, was eyeing him up like a lion eyes up his prey, and his two friends, Rai and Fuu, were flanking his sides. Roxas groaned in exasperation. "How goes it?" Seifer said, walking towards the blond, his brown trenchcoat swinging with the movement.

Roxas stayed silent. To engage Seifer surely meant certain torture. Or being hit in the face with a basketball. Whichever was more explainable as schoolboy enthusiasm. He avoided the urge to look at the ground, but kept his head held high and his eyesight locked straight ahead. He would not show Seifer any weakness.

Roxas' rivalry with Seifer wasn't really his doing – it was just because he was good friends with Hayner, who was Seifer's main competition in the Islands Struggle battles. Because neither of the blonds would admit defeat, they had formed a sort of deep-set rivalry that apparently would never fade. Roxas, unfortunately, tended to get caught up in the middle of it.

"Waiting for someone, blondie?" Seifer said, slamming a hand onto the locker next to Roxas' temple. Roxas continued to stare straight ahead. "Your fag brother, per chance?" Roxas tensed, part of his brain trying desperately to ignore the insult otherwise Seifer would get what he wanted, the other part screaming at him to defend his brother at all costs. The teenager felt his muscles tremble with the effort of not trying to throttle Seifer. "Y'know, I hear he's had it up the ass from _everyone _on the Blitzball team. That true, blondie?" the trembling in his muscles intensified. "I also heard that _you_ were involved in this little... gathering, as well,"

"Thats it," Roxas snarled, letting his bookbag drop to the ground as he reached for Seifer. The other blond was too fast though and dodged out the way, letting Fuu and Rai take over. Rai managed to pin one of Roxas' arms behind his back while Fuu had scratched his cheek badly with her sharp nails before the Art room door opened. "

"ROX," Roxas barely registered that his name was being called before Fuu and Rai had let him go and were off down the corridor, scurrying after Seifer who had had a headstart in running away. Roxas winced as a soft hand touched his cheek, blinking open his eyes (which he had screwed shut in his attack) to find Naminé staring at him.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly, showing him her fingertips, which were stained red. Dammit, Fuu had scratched him so badly he was bleeding. He nodded, his throat dry, and he looked around. Kairi was standing in front of him, her back to him, hands on her hips, staring down the corridor. Riku was at the end, his fists screwed into balls at his sides, his face furious. He whipped around and marched back down the corridor to Roxas, his silver hair seeming to crackle with energy.

"You alright, Rox?" Riku asked when he was close enough to not shout. Roxas nodded, clearing his throat.

"I'm fine. Fuu only managed to scratch me before you guys came out," he explained and Naminé stepped back to let Riku inspect the damage. The silver-haired boy studied his cheek carefully and then nodded once.

"Yeah, it doesn't look too bad. Bleeding a little though..."

"Its fine," Roxas said, shrugging a shoulder. He was hit with the realisation that this was the most he had spoken to Riku since the other boys birthday party. He looked to the floor, somewhat ashamed. Here was Riku, looking ready to murder Seifer the next time he saw him, and Roxas hadn't really had the decency to even be nice to him for the last week or two. The blond felt his face flush with shame.

"C'mon, lets go find Sora," Riku said, slinging an arm around Roxas' shoulders while Kairi picked up his bookbag and threw it over her shoulder. Naminé clasped onto his forearm and the group made their way to the main school doors, where Sora would surely be waiting.

Indeed, the brunette was there already, his eyes widening in shock when he saw the state of Roxas' face. He ran over, barely registering the younger girl he nearly ran over in his haste, and came to a sudden stop right in front of Roxas' face. He touched his twins cheek gently and Roxas hissed. It stung.

"Who did this?" Sora asked, meeting his twins matching eyes with his furious gaze. Roxas shook his head.

"Seifer and his cronies. Its fine, Sora, just a bit sore," the blond tried to soothe his twin, but Sora's face had become stormy. He looked at Riku, long and hard, and Riku nodded once, before they were all interrupted.

"Hey Rox, was wonderin' where you got to-," Axel appeared in the corner of the group, his face cheerful until it settled on Roxas face. Roxas wanted to scream "_Its only a scratch!_", because in his opinion, everyone was overreacting far too much. But Axel's face had taken on the same stormy quality as Sora's and Roxas was aware that there was no stopping him, either of them, now.

"Who?" Axel hissed and Sora answered him with the short answer Roxas had given him. Axel locked eyes with his twin, nodded to Riku and then turned on his heel. "We'll be right back,"

"AXEL!" Kairi shouted after their retreating backs and Roxas shook off Naminé to run after them, the girls on his heels. They exited the school into the bright sunlight, to see Axel, Riku and Sora heading into the gathered crowd of students, their shoulders tense with purpose. Roxas doubted he could catch up to them but he had to try. He sprinted towards them, pushing past the gathered students, both of the High School and the University, and tried to get to them. He could see Axel's red hair and Riku's silver through the crowd, but Sora was already lost to him.

He entered into a small clearing where he gasped for breath, his eyes scanning the crowds. There, by the old Paopu tree which no longer bore any fruit, was Axel and Riku (with Sora close by, presumably), and Axel was looming over Seifer. Roxas pushed through the crowd once more, and ran into Riku's back, out of breath completely.

"Axel!" he shouted, and the redhead glanced over his shoulder, eyes glinting. Seifer seemed to sense this was his chance, launching his fist at the redheads jaw, but Axel's reactions were too honed and he caught Seifer's fist in his hand before it could touch him. With barely a flick of his wrist, Axel twisted Seifer's arm and the blond looked close to howling in pain. "Axel, let him go. That's enough," Roxas said sternly, brushing past Riku and moving closer to the redhead.

"Yeah, listen to your boyfriend, freak," Seifer spat at Axel, and the redhead twisted his arm again, sharply, and the blond really did howl this time. Then, Axel let him go.

"Not doing this for you, Seifer," Axel said calmly, looking back at Roxas again. "Remember that,". With a huff, Axel turned on his heel and reached for Roxas, slinging an arm around him before leading him away. Roxas was a bit too stunned to shrug him off, but by the time they had reached the girls again, still standing where Roxas had lost them, the blond had shaken himself out of his reverie.

He jerked away from Axel's grasp and fixed the redhead with a furious glare.

"You didn't have to hunt him down," he snapped, and Axel eyed him curiously.

"He attacked you," the redhead said simply. Roxas shook his head, noticing vaguely that Sora and Riku had caught up, their hands linked.

"He didn't. Fuu scratched me while Rai kept me still, and Seifer was halfway down the corridor. Besides, thats not the point. You can't just... go hunting people down when they hurt me!" Roxas tried to explain and Axel shrugged one shoulder.

"Why not?" he asked, and Roxas was ready to tear his hair out.

"Because you just _can't_, Axel," he said, angry. The other man eyed him slowly and then nodded once.

"Alright... Come on, lets get you moved into my parents," he said and he strode off towards the car, shrugging off the earlier drama instantaneously. Roxas' jaw would've dropped if he hadn't been in a rush to catch up. He clapped Riku quickly on the shoulder, gave Sora a one-armed, rib-crushing hug, grabbed his bag off Kairi and hurried with her and Naminé over to Axel's car. Roxas slid into the passenger seat while the girls climbed into the back, the blond boy thankful that their earlier neighbour had already left so he would've have to dislocate his joints to get in.

They arrived at the Elliots house with no fuss, Axel parking smoothly in the driveway. The redhead grabbed Roxas' holdall before the blond could even get to the boot, and had carried it up to the house without a word. Kairi unlocked the door for them all, and Axel kicked it shut on his way in, Kairi shooting him a glare from her place on the stairs. She and Naminé were going straight to their rooms, it seemed.

"Uh... where will I be?" Roxas asked, and Axel put the holdall down to lift his bookbag over his head. Roxas did the same, placing his bag near the shoe rack.

"My room," Axel explained simply, lifting the holdall again. Roxas followed him up the stairs and down the corridor to Axel's brightly decorated room. Axel stood to the side when they reached the door, gesturing for Roxas to open it, so the blond did, letting them both in before pushing the door to. Axel had put the holdall down by his desk and had slung himself down on the bed, arms crossed behind his head. Roxas perched himself awkwardly on the desk chair.

"Why are you so mad?" he asked before he could stop himself. Axel glanced at him and let out of a huff of air, pushing himself into sitting.

"I'm not angry, Roxie," he said simply, looking out the window. "Look, as I said, I... _care_ about you, a lot, and I'm, as a general rule, not gonna like people who fuck with you. Which is what Seifer did. And, like, I wasn't gonna mess him up bad or anything, I just wanted to scare the little creep, because to be frank, he deserves it. I don't like people... fucking about with whats mine," the redhead finished off, spitting Seifer's name as he spoke. Roxas shook his head.

"Thats just it, Axel," he said and the redhead looked at him. "I'm _not_ yours. Never have been, I'm afraid. So... don't get all creepy possessive again, 'kay?" the teenager said, attempting to be cheerful and upbeat. Axel eyed him suspiciously and then cracked a small smile.

"'Kay,"

**&-qp -& &-qp -& **

**A/N: **Once again, I'm sorry this took forever. But now I have a good friend cracking the whip at me for writing, so hopefully these updates should be coming out a lot faster!

Please enjoy!

**-OR**


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